The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the US approach to START is contrary to previous agreements
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Photo: Konstantin Kokoshkin / Global Look Press
The United States is trying to fix its approach to complying with measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms (START), their actions are contrary to the previous agreements on the “new security equation”, which was reached at the talks in Geneva. This is stated in the response of the Russian Foreign Ministry on security guarantees. The document was published on the official website of the department.
“The American side is trying to fix an approach that has not been coordinated with us, which provides for focusing exclusively on nuclear weapons, regardless of the ability of certain means [of the nuclear triad] to pose a direct threat to the national territory of the other side,” the document says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced that the United States did not accept the Russian proposals and added that such a one-sided view contradicts the understandings reached at the Russian-American summit on June 16, 2021 in Geneva. At that time, cooperation measures were agreed within the framework of a strategic dialogue, which was supposed to lay the foundation for future arms control.
The document notes that the United States agrees to work towards the control of heavy bombers and surface warships, as well as the deployment of medium and short-range missiles. At the same time, the United States refuses to discuss the item on military exercises and maneuvers, which says about the prevention of such events in the vicinity of Russia's national borders.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the text of Moscow's written reaction to the US response on security guarantees. The document consists of 11 pages. It refers to Russia's proposal to the United States to develop a new “security equation”, as well as to withdraw all American troops and weapons from Europe and the Baltics.
