Russia is interested in maintaining a nuclear arms reduction treaty (on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, informally called START-3) not more than the United States, and it guarantees to ensure its security in the event of non-renewal of the agreement. This was stated on Friday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during an online session of the international forum "Primakov readings" on the topic "Russia and the post-Soviet world".
"We know this is a firm confidence that we will guarantee our security for the long term even in the absence of this agreement," Lavrov said. He added that it was premature to talk about the steps that Russia would take in the event that the START ceased to operate.
"But we are ready for any development, this is true, and in a case of refusal to extend, the options may be different. But the overall focus, I can assure you, will be on continuing the dialogue with the United States on strategic issues, continuing the dialogue on new arms control instruments in the context of all factors affecting strategic stability," the Minister stressed. He added that Russia was not going to persuade the US to extend the Treaty. "If they categorically refuse, we will not persuade them <...> We need an extension just as much as the Americans need it. They now see our calls to extend it for five years or for some years without preconditions as a game, " the Russian Foreign Minister said.
The United States strongly emphasizes that there is no alternative to continuing the conversation on limiting nuclear weapons in a trilateral format (the United States, Russia, and China), which indicates that Washington has decided not to extend the START Treaty, Lavrov believes. "It seems that the decision not to renew this agreement [the START] in the United States has already been made. The insistence that there is no alternative to transferring the entire conversation to a three-way plane indicates that this is already a foregone conclusion. Plus, the conditions are put forward that it is necessary to include the latest Russian weapons in the conversation, which, in general, by and large means to break into an open door," he said.
Russia, as Lavrov stressed, would defend its position on the inadmissibility of nuclear war at the upcoming summit of the" Five " permanent members of the UN Security Council.
"We are worried about <...> the two - year refusal of the Americans to reassert the fundamental principle, the postulate that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and, accordingly, it should never be unleashed, is particularly disturbing," he said. - Of course, we will promote this topic-the inadmissibility of nuclear war, the inability to win it-in the context of the upcoming summit of the "Five" (the UN Security Council's "nuclear five" summit -. TASS)".
At the same time, Lavrov added that it was important "not to overreact and not to play along with those who are trying to ban all nuclear weapons and raise a wave in this direction."
Russia proposes to discuss collective principles in world affairs, arms control and other security issues, as well as overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for the world economy at the UN Five - Russia, China, France, the United States and the United Kingdom. This is stated in an article by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the history of World war II. The article was published in the National Interest magazine in English, and then published on the Kremlin's website and in Rossiyskaya Gazeta in Russian.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS