The conditions put forward by the United States for the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START III) are unrealistic, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told during the Territory of Meanings on the Klyazma National Education Youth Forum.
"I don't know what the final result will be, but we honestly told the Americans that we need START III, we would be in favor of extending it without preconditions, but we don't need it any more than the Americans do," he said.
"The Americans at the talks that my Deputy Sergei Ryabkov led the other day in Vienna with the US Special Representative, Mr. [Marshall] Billingsley, insist on conditions that, to be honest, are simply unrealistic, including the requirement that China must join this document or some future document," the Minister added.
The next round of interagency consultations between the Russian Federation and the United States on strategic stability and arms control ended in Vienna on August 18. The Russian and US delegations met for the second time in 2020 in the Austrian capital under the leadership of Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Special Representative of the US President for arms control Marshall Billingsley. Their first talks were held on June 22. At the end of July, additional consultations between the Russian Federation and the United States took place in the format of meetings of three working groups: on space security, on doctrines and capabilities, and on transparency and verification.
Russia will be able to defend themselves
Russia is able to protect itself in the event of the termination of the START III Treaty, but its destruction will be a big mistake, Lavrov said.
"This does not mean that everything will collapse. We have full confidence that we are able to protect ourselves, so there should be no concern here. And we will be ready to resume the conversation as if out of the blue, from a clean slate, but it will be a very big mistake if our American colleagues decide to destroy the last document," Lavrov said.
About the START
The Treaty for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms was signed by the United States and the Russian Federation in 2010. According to its terms, each of the parties reduces its strategic arms so that seven years after its entry into force and in the future, their total numbers do not exceed 700 deployed Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and heavy bombers (HB), 1,550 warheads on them, 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM, SLBM and HB launchers. The agreement remains in force for 10 years (until February 5, 2021), unless replaced by a subsequent agreement before that date. It can also be extended for no more than five years (i.e. until 2026) by mutual consent of the parties.
Moscow calls on Washington not to delay the decision on the possibility of extending the Treaty and describes it as the gold standard in the field of disarmament. As Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out in an interview with the Financial Times in June last year, if this Treaty also ceases to exist, "then, in fact, there will be no tools in the world at all to restrain the arms race."
Lavrov said that Russia's new weapons would guarantee its invulnerability
New weapons being developed in Russia will guarantee the invulnerability of the country's territory, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told during the Territory of Meanings on the Klyazma National Education Youth Forum.
"I can assure you that the new weapons that have already been announced and the new weapons that our respective design bureaus are working on will guarantee the invulnerability of our country's territory from the threats that will be created around us. Unfortunately, there are many such plans, " he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS