The freezing of the dialogue between Russia and the United States on arms control and strategic stability has caused the degradation of relations between the two countries. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov in an interview with “Kommersant”.
According to the diplomat, at the end of 2021, the dialogue on updating the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces moved off the ground. The US was ready to discuss this topic. It is worth noting that Washington only indicated its readiness for negotiations. In addition, the issue of medium-range and shorter-range missiles was rather private. At the forefront were more global problems for the Russian Federation – the expansion of NATO to the east and the transformation of Ukraine into an anti-Russian outpost. However, the US refused to compromise on these “red lines” for Russia.
“Faced with a resolute rebuff that we rendered to the West in Ukraine, the United States “froze” the bilateral strategic dialogue. They did this, apparently in an attempt to exert additional political pressure on our country. Therefore, yes, we can say that as a result of Washington’s actions arms control has become hostage to the overall deep degradation of our bilateral relations,” he said. added Ryabkov.
The same thing happened, according to Ryabkov, with the discussion and implementation of the terms of the START. The Americans deliberately abandoned a constructive bilateral dialogue and “pushed through” only their own position in order to continue discrediting Russia in the international arena. Ryabkov stressed that in the context of total American aggression against the Russian Federation and the hybrid war unleashed against us, it is impossible to do business with Washington.
Nevertheless, Russia does not abandon the dialogue on arms control.
“Of course, we can be interested in such hypothetical agreements with the United States on arms control, which would be organically and viably inscribed in a more “healthy” than now, general political and military-strategic context. At the same time, of course, any such agreements should be based on the principles of equality and strict parity, work to strengthen our national security,” Ryabkov said.
However, until the degree of American hostility decreases, it is too early to talk about the implementation of the START Treaty, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation believes.
“You must admit that it is very strange, if not harsher, to demand from us, for example, the resumption of inspection activities at Russian strategic offensive weapons facilities in the conditions when the Kyiv regime has made attempts to strike our long-range aviation facilities, moreover, with direct military-technical and intelligence -informational participation of the USA”, – concluded the diplomat.
START expires in 2026 and the world may face new threats if left without Russian-American arms control.
On January 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, commenting on the expiration of the START, said that Russia would not run after the United States “with offers to be friends.” In 2021, two rounds of negotiations were held with the participation of diplomats, military and intelligence agencies. The next round of negotiations was scheduled for November-December 2022, but it was postponed for an unknown date.