Russia Still Sees Potential for Strategic Cooperation, Even as NATO and U.S. Obstruct It

April 16, 2019 (EIRNS)—A top Russian official made clear yesterday that Russia is still open to dialogue with the U.S. and with NATO, that there’s plenty to talk about, but that the mentality of confrontation coming from NATO is the barrier to such discussions.

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, told the April 15 annual meeting of the Arms Control Association that the potential for joint efforts for peace, security, disarmament, strengthening non-proliferation and arms control is far from being exhausted.

“We can do so much more if we respect the national interests of each other. The primary goal for us is to build a security architecture, which would give tangible results of the principle of equal and indivisible security for every nation,”

he said. He pointed out that Russian security depends on much more than the balance of strategic nuclear weapons, but also on what the U.S. does, including in missile defense, precision nuclear and non-nuclear weapons and on the growth of U.S. military infrastructure near Russia’s borders, but also on the fate of the international arms control system.

Antonov also stressed that, in the Russian view, Russia’s new strategic weapons don’t fall under the purview of New START but that Russia is willing to talk about them. Russia has made it clear it is ready to discuss this in the format of negotiations on strategic stability, he continued. However, it is the United States and not the Russian Federation that is not ready to resume these negotiations, the ambassador stressed.