US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington is still ready to discuss the issue of arms limitation with Moscow. This is reported by the newspaper on February 21 The New York Times.
According to the politician, Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is “very disappointing and irresponsible.”
At the same time, Blinken noted that Washington is ready to discuss the issue of arms limitation, regardless of what is happening in the world and in Russian-American relations.
He noted that the United States will closely monitor what Russia is doing.
The decision to suspend Russia’s participation in START was announced earlier that day by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a message to the Federal Assembly. He drew attention to the fact that the Russian Federation “does not withdraw from the agreement, namely, it suspends participation.” At the same time, the head of state said that before returning to the discussion of START, the country must understand how to take into account the nuclear arsenals of France and Great Britain.
After that, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc regretted Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the START Treaty and urged Moscow to reconsider it.
An agreement between Russia and the United States on measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms was signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague. It replaced the 1991 START Treaty and, upon entry into force, replaced the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (STRAT).
In January 2021, Putin and US President Joe Biden agreed to extend the New START Treaty without additional conditions for another five years, until February 5, 2026. However, the situation changed after the start of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass.
On February 10 of this year, US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins said that Washington is interested in resuming negotiations with Moscow on START and in continuing inspections, but there is no progress on this.
Prior to that, on February 6, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that the Russian Federation does not abandon the START Treaty and fulfills all its obligations under the treaty, while the States freely treat their obligations. The diplomat added that the Americans made public their claims to the Russian Federation on the START issue, noting that Moscow allegedly violated the conditions.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov on February 1 pointed out the importance of the New START, adding that the United States had actually destroyed the legal framework in the field of arms control and security, creating hostile conditions for the Russian side.
