MOSCOW:
Russia on Monday challenged the US claim that it has fulfilled its obligations under a pivotal nuclear arms deal, a new argument that could further fuel tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The Russian foreign ministry said it “can’t confirm” the latest US state department data indicating that the US has complied with the thresholds set by the 2010 New START treaty. It limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It said the US removed 56 Trident II submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles and 41 B-52H strategic bombers from its count of nuclear arsenals after re-equipping them to carry conventional weapons.
‘Netherlands has no proof of Russian hacking plot’
Moscow on Monday said that documents presented by the
Netherlands last week alleging that Russian agents attempted to hack into the global chemical watchdog organisation were not proof of Moscow’s involvement. Asked by journalists if the Kremlin considers documents released by the Dutch authorities, which include passports of four men identifying them as agents of Russian military intelligence, to be evidence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “no”, adding that Moscow would “no longer discuss these topics through the media”. The comments were Kremlin’s first reaction on the issue.