Ryabkov Expects To Resolve START Disagreements with U.S.

July 11, 2019, (EIRNS)—Addressing the State Duma, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia expects that it will be able to resolve disagreements with the United States over New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). As TASS quoted him: “We expect that we will eventually succeed in resolving issues related to the Treaty’s implementation and agree with the U.S. to extend it.”

Not if National Security Adviser John Bolton can help it. In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon published on June 18, Bolton criticized the New START treaty that is due to expire in February 2021. Bolton said that it’s unlikely that New START will be extended; “there’s no decision, but I think it’s unlikely.” He claimed that most Republican senators who voted to approve New START in 2010 actually opposed the treaty, primarily because the pact has no provisions or limitations on tactical or non-strategic nuclear weapons.

At the State Duma, Ryabkov pointed out that Moscow “is interested in extending New START as much as the United States is interested in it.... If the U.S. refuses to do it, it won’t be a tragedy for us. We have ensured the country’s defense capabilities for the medium term,” Ryabkov stated.