It is not possible to adopt a framework document on arms control, which the United States is proposing to conclude as a condition for extending the START III treaty. This statement was made by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Ryabkov.
Earlier, the United States, represented by the special envoy of President Marshall Billingsley, issued an ultimatum. According to the statement, the START treaty will not be extended if the parties do not agree on an “arms control memorandum” by February.
Washington has hinted that after the possible re-election of Donald Trump in November, “the price of the issue” will be raised.
“On the basis on which the Americans propose to conclude an agreement, it will not work to adopt a certain framework document, because the nature of the demands put forward by the United States to us does not correspond to our idea of what needs to be done in the interests of strengthening strategic stability,” Ryabkov told reporters on Monday.
President Vladimir Putin previously proposed extending the contract for five years without preconditions. The US administration says it needs to include the PRC in negotiations to develop a new trilateral nuclear agreement between Russia, China and the United States. The United States also proposes to expand the treaty to a number of new classes of weapons.
The START III treaty between Russia and the United States entered into force on February 5, 2011. The document stipulates that each side will reduce its nuclear arsenals so that in seven years and in the future, the number of weapons in total does not exceed 700 ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers, as well as 1,550 warheads and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers.
The agreement obliges Russia and the United States to exchange information on the number of warheads and delivery vehicles twice a year. February 5, 2018 was the deadline by which Moscow and Washington had to reach the benchmarks under the treaty.
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