Russia's "Kremlin Palace and White House Hotline Suspended Currently"

Russia says the emergency hotline set up between the Kremlin and the U.S. White House is not currently in use amid decades of conflict between Russia and the West and a heightened nuclear risk.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported on the 20th local time that "there are special security lines for Russian and U.S. presidents to communicate with each other," and that "even video communication is possible."

But when asked if he is currently using the line, Peskov said no.

The so-called "hotline" between Washington and Moscow was built in 1963, a year after the Cuban missile crisis, with the aim of allowing direct communication between the U.S. and Soviet leaders.