MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2020) It is possible to talk about the verification of nuclear arsenals only after reaching an agreement on the parameters of what exactly the future New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) should cover, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday.
"I want to note that this story has been discussed for a long time during the contacts that have been held behind closed doors in recent months between the two countries' interdepartmental delegations. We have repeatedly explained to the Americans, and we continue to do this, including in recent days, that verification is a derivative of the agreement itself. Until we know its scope and parameters, we will not be able to say what kind of verification measures are generally possible, and whether they are possible in some cases in principle," Ryabkov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
According to the diplomat, the problem of verification is extremely difficult, "we simply cannot put the cart before the horse here."
"Even if we went for the deepest, maximum verification, we would still hear the same thing, as we hear it every day. The question is not whether they want to achieve a specific material result. It is a question of pursuing an anti-Russian course, finding opportunities to put pressure on us ... The question is that you cannot build a house from the roof � we must first build a foundation, understand what the project of this house will be, how many floors, rooms and windows it has. And then only deal with tiles and protection from precipitation," Ryabkov said.
