Trump Should Extend New START, Update Other Arms Control Treaties With Russia - Senator

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) US President Donald Trump should promptly extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as well as update the other arms control agreements with Russia, US Senator and the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein said on Monday.

"There's no question that our existing arms control treaties with Russia need to be updated and improved upon. But that's best accomplished by building on what we already have," Feinstein said. "The perfect cannot become the enemy of the good when so much is at stake. President Trump should extend New START immediately."

Feinstein noted that the United States in the past three years pulled from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, saying that both were vital to decreasing the risk of a nuclear confrontation.

"In withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, the president suggested he could craft better agreements from scratch. So far there is no evidence he has done so," Feinstein said.

The US senator from California said the "start-from-scratch" approach fails to take into consideration just how difficult it is to reach an arms control agreement.

"Regarding New START, the far wiser course is to extend its provisions for five years and use that time to make any updates that may be needed," she said.

Feinstein explained that extending the New START would be advantageous as it would cap Russia's current strategic forces until at least 2026, and would offering greater predictability and transparency.

"It would also allow us to continue the extensive and effective verification regime that allows us to monitor Russia's adherence to the treaty's terms and provides unique and valuable intelligence on the size, capabilities, location, and operation of Russia's strategic forces," she said.

The US senator from California pointed out that extending the New START would also provide the United States the time and space to negotiate a follow-on arms control accord with Russia, China and other nuclear powers.

"Specifically, with limits on strategic forces remaining in effect through 2026, the United States and Russia would have the opportunity to pursue measures for the limitation and reduction of nuclear capabilities not covered under New START, such as hypersonic weapons and non-deployed nuclear warheads," she said.

However, Feinstein warned that allowing the New START treaty to expire "would likely represent the end of strategic arms control as we know it" and would prompt Russia and the United States to heavily invest in expansion and modernization of their nuclear forces.

"Losing New START would also present greater uncertainties about Russia's present and future nuclear plans and capabilities, leading to concerns about the adequacy of our deterrent posture and recurrent nuclear fears and crises similar to those we experienced during the Cold War, like the Cuban Missile Crisis," she said.

In addition, jettisoning the New START treaty presents an enormous risk as well as harms the credibility of the United States every time it withdraws from an agreement.

"The core concepts that serve as the foundation of the New START - reinforcing mutual deterrence, inhibiting costly and dangerous arms races, and allowing for extensive verification measures that reduce the opacity of competition - still hold true," she said. "And the threat environment that we currently face would become even more complex and challenging without the New START."

The United States and Russia will start expert-level talks in Vienna on Monday to discuss space security, nuclear doctrine and potential, as well as transparency and verification.

Russia has offered extending the New START treaty that is set to expire in February 2021.

The United States continues pushing for trilateral arms control that would include China, which has a much smaller nuclear arsenal, but has repeatedly rejected joining the arms control process.