Moscow stresses that it will consider the nuclear potential of the US, UK and France as “a single fist directed against Russia”
MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Russian Government has stressed this Wednesday that all exchanges of information within the framework of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) have been suspended, in line with the decision announced on Tuesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze Moscow’s participation in the pact.
“All of that is suspended. All information exchanges, all elements of the agreement relating to verification activities do not apply, taking into account the suspension announcement and the expected legislative execution of the decision,” the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister explained. , Sergei Riabkov.
Likewise, he has pointed out that Moscow does not rule out the possibility that the United States withdraws from the New START after Russia’s decision. “I do not rule out anything. They have previously withdrawn from many agreements,” he argued, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
“It is not easy to predict what they can do now, but Washington’s pattern of behavior does not give rise to optimism,” he said, while noting that Russia will now consider the nuclear potential of the United Kingdom and France as “a single fist” along with the American
In this sense, he stressed that “from the point of view of military planning, the analysis of the situation in Russia to guarantee its security, it is impossible to ignore the British and French potential”. “Now it will be considered together with the American as a single fist directed against Russia,” she pointed out.
Riabkov has stressed that “there are no contacts” planned with these three countries to address the situation and has stressed that Moscow will monitor the strategic decisions of London and Paris. “They cannot be considered as factors outside the Russian-American dialogue on arms control, not even hypothetically,” he concluded.
Putin announced on Tuesday the suspension of New START, the latest pact signed with the United States for the reduction and control of nuclear weapons, stressing that Russia “must be ready to carry out nuclear tests if the United States carries them out first.”
Washington and Moscow extended START in 2021 for a period of five years. The treaty seeks to limit the deployment of intercontinental nuclear weapons by both parties, allowing frequent checks of each country’s programs by the other. The agreement allows Washington and Moscow to deploy up to 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 1,550 nuclear warheads on those missiles.
If the treaty is terminated or expires without renewal, the nuclear arsenals of the world’s two largest nuclear powers would be unconstrained for the first time since the 1970s, at the height of the Cold War, and neither side would be able to control the arsenal of the contrary.