Russia is open to multilateral arms control talks, but the composition of countries involved should be balanced, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Russia is open to multilateral arms control talks, but the composition of countries involved should be balanced, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
Speaking at the online Primakov Readings forum, Lavrov noted that Russia is ready for a situation when "nothing will be left in arms control sphere" as a result of the United States' "consistent policy of destruction" of all relevant agreements. Moscow, at the same, is open to continuing contacts with the US on all issues of strategic stability.
"We will also leave the door open for multilateral negotiations, which should certainly be based on common understanding, on voluntary participation in these negotiations and on a balanced composition of participants," Lavrov said.
In June, Russia and the US launched high-stakes nuclear talks in Vienna in an effort to rescue the New START treaty, their last major arms control agreement, which is set to expire in February 2021. Washington is actively pushing for China, which has a much smaller arsenal, to join the talks, despite the latter's clear refusal.
In light of the development, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has once again suggested that the closest US allies in Europe, France and the United Kingdom, also join the disarmament process.
