US must reconsider its hostile policy to unfreeze New START nuclear deal, says Russia
The New START treaty first signed in 2010 restricted the number of strategic nuclear warheads, launchers and heavy bombers deployed by Russia and the United States.
Moscow’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov. Photo- AFP
Moscow: Russia’s decision to suspend ‘New START’ was the right response to Washington’s anti-Russia policies and its violations of the deal, Moscow’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Monday.
The New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US, first signed in 2010 restricted the number of strategic nuclear warheads, launchers and heavy bombers deployed by Russia and the United States.
In order to create the conditions for a return to full-scale operation of New START, Washington must reconsider its hostile anti-Russian policy,” Antonov asserted.
Antonov accused the US of passing the buck, saying that Washington has launched and dragged its European allies into a large-scale hybrid war against Russia,” while openly stating that its goal is “to inflict a strategic defeat on our country.”
“At the same time, as if nothing has happened, it insists on the inspection of our bases, which store strategic nuclear weapons. These are the same bases that have been attacked by Ukraine with the help of the Pentagon,” he said.
Antonov accused Washington of substantially violating the central provisions of New START.
Responding to Washington’s criticism of the move, he said the US had “illegitimately” withdrawn submarine-launched ballistic missile systems and heavy bombers from the deal’s counting rules after declaring them incapable of carrying out nuclear missions following “a procedure not agreed upon with Russia. Our inspectors have never been given the opportunity to verify the results of the ‘conversion,’” Antonov was quoted by Russia Today as saying.
The ambassador described the decision to suspend participation in New START as “the only right one under the circumstances. He also said that Moscow still complies with the quantitative limitations imposed by the treaty.
President Joe Biden shortly after taking office extended New START until 2026 after the previous administration of Donald Trump had ripped up previous arms control agreements and had been hesitant to preserve New START in its current form.
Moscow announced in early August that it was suspending US inspections of its military sites under New START. It said it was responding to American obstruction of inspections by Russia, a charge denied by Washington.
Russia indefinitely postponed talks under New START that had been due to start on November 29 in Cairo, accusing the United States of “toxicity and animosity”.
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