There is a growing risk that the US administration is dragging out time by refusing to engage in a genuine dialogue on the Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty, so that Moscow and Washington would fail to extend the accord before its expiration, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference
MUNICH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2019) There is a growing risk that the US administration is dragging out time by refusing to engage in a genuine dialogue on the Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty, so that Moscow and Washington would fail to extend the accord before its expiration, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.According to Ryabkov, there is a need to address the issue of US compliance with the treaty with regard to a considerable number of the US strategic weapon delivery means, "which have been artificially withdrawn by the US side from the account according with the treaty" while being declared as converted into non-nuclear missions "in a manner that cannot be verified and acknowledged as an irreversible one by the Russian side."
"We [Russia] went several extra miles with the US counterparts in order to present them with concrete and specific technical ideas how it can be done, how this problem can be fixed with no response, with no interest to continue this discussion," Ryabkov said.
"Thus, I believe there is a growing risk that this US administration just on purpose continues to talk on issues like 'We have plenty of time,' 'Nothing to worry about' and then the treaty just phases out as of February 2021. That would be another extraordinary shock for the arms control system and another severe blow inflicted on the international security by the United States of America," the Russian diplomat added.
