Sergey Lavrov
Russia hopes that the administration of US President-elect Joseph Biden will be more rational about the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START, unofficially called START-3) than its predecessors. This was told by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“Judging by the statements, Biden's team, unlike our current dialogue partners, is not interested in making START a hostage to their ambitions and trying to“ push through ”obviously unrealistic requests,” the diplomat said.
He stressed that Moscow has been and continues to be in favor of extending the agreement. However, this has not yet been achieved due to the demands of Washington, which go beyond the framework of the agreements. In this regard, Lavrov called on the United States to provide guarantees for the fulfillment of the terms of the missile treaty.
START ends in February 2021. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow will seek guarantees for the fulfillment of obligations from those countries that remain in the agreement.
