don’t wave an ultimatum on arms control According to Reuters
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends a news conference at the Russian Mission after his speech at the United Nations Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland March 2, 2023. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia warned the United States on Saturday that it should stop issuing ultimatums over the collapse of arms control agreements, saying Moscow would only return to the nuclear arms reduction treaty. if Washington abandons its hostile stance.
Russia and the United States, by far the two largest nuclear powers, have both expressed regret over the disintegration of arms control treaties that sought to slow the Cold War arms race and reduce risk of nuclear war.
Amid the crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin in February announced that Russia was suspending participation in the New START treaty – an agreement signed in 2010 to limit the number of foreign investments. strategic nuclear weapons deployed by Russia and the United States.
The United States said this week that it would stop providing Russia with certain notifications required by the treaty, including updates on missile and launch pad positions, in retaliation for “repeated violations of the treaty.” ” of Moscow with respect to the agreement.
Russia’s arms control chief, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said Washington had informed Moscow of the move before it went public so it was no surprise.
But Ryabkov said arms control pillars were collapsing and in a “semi-deadly” state due to what he called hostile US policy.
“Talking to the Russian Federation in the language of ultimatums doesn’t work,” Ryabkov told Russia’s three main news agencies.
“Due to the fault of the United States, many elements of old architecture in this area have been completely destroyed or turned into a semi-lethal state.”
DETAILED ASSESSMENT
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US looks forward to starting discussions with Russia on a strategic arms limitation treaty to replace New START when it expires in 2026.
Ryabkov said Russia will make a detailed assessment of Sullivan’s remarks later.
After fears of nuclear war sparked by the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union sought to slow the arms race with what eventually became a tangle of arms control agreements. weapons that help each side better understand the enemy’s arsenal and capabilities.
Both Moscow and Washington, which still control about 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons, reduced their numbers as the Soviet Union collapsed.
The New START treaty, signed in 2011, forces the United States and Russia to limit the deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the deployment of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and the deployment of heavily armed bombers. nuclear weapons.
It also places limits on the nuclear warheads on which missiles and bombers are deployed, as well as the launchers for those missiles. Both sides reached the treaty’s central limits by February 5, 2018, and the treaty was extended to February 4, 2026.
“Our decision to suspend the START Treaty is unshakable,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. “Our own condition for returning to a treaty in full force is that the United States must abandon its fundamentally hostile stance toward Russia.”
There’s a glimmer of optimism: Ryabkov said the US appears ready to comply with the 1998 Ballistic Missile Launch Notification Agreement.
“Accordingly, a certain transparency and predictability will remain in this area and will allow us to avoid further dangerous outbreaks,” he said.