US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss possible new agreements on arms control with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meetings in Sochi on May 14, a senior State Department official told reporters on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss possible new agreements on arms control with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meetings in Sochi on May 14, a senior State Department official told reporters on Friday."The Secretary will then travel to Sochi on Tuesday afternoon to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov and President Putin and the issue high on the agenda for the discussions will be arms control," the official said. "President [Donald] Trump has made clear that he wants arms control agreements that reflect modern reality."
The new treaties must include a broader range of countries and account for a wider range of weapons systems than the current US-Russia agreements, the official added.
The State Department official noted that Pompeo also plans to address other global challenges including Venezuela, Ukraine, Iran, Syria and North Korea during his trip next week.
Trump told reporters last week that he would soon launch bilateral talks with Russia on a new nuclear arms control deal that could eventually be expanded to include China. Beijing, however, has said it has no intention to join any potential talks.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) went into force in 2011 and covers a 10-year period with the possibility of a five-year extension. The agreement limits the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, nuclear armed bombers and nuclear warheads.
Trump in February announced that the United States would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which was signed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Following Trump's announcement, Russia suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty.
