U.S. Urges Russia To Return To Nuclear Arm Treaty

Washington D.C./02.03.23/Turan:  The United States on Wednesday urged Russia to return to a key nuclear arms treaty, calling Moscow's decision to unilaterally suspend New START "unfortunate” and “irresponsible,” TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Russia is not better off in a world where the two largest nuclear powers are no longer engaged in bilateral arms control," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said at a briefing in response to TURAN's questions. "And Russia’s willingness to promote instability and use irresponsible nuclear rhetoric endangers every nation on this planet," he added.

Price's comments came hours after Moscow reportedly delivered formal notification to Washington about the suspension. Asked by TURAN's correspondent about the engagement, Price confirmed the move, adding however that the diplomatic note provided by Russia “did not tell us anything we didn’t already know from the public statements that have emanated from Moscow.”

Russia had earlier boycotted previously scheduled meetings with U.S. officials related to the START agreement, and refused to allow on-site inspections.

Price went on to emphasize that "it is the responsible thing to do for nuclear powers to engage in arms control, to engage in other tools of strategic stability that, throughout the height of the Cold War and since the dawn of the nuclear era, have prevented an exchange between nuclear powers."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov reportedly said earlier that his county's return to the treaty depended on U.S. support for Ukraine.

Price rejected Moscow’s demand, saying that Russia’s purported suspension of New START will not stop the U.S. from continuing to support Ukraine. "We are doing precisely what we told President Putin and the Kremlin and the rest of the world that we would do should Moscow continue with its aggression last year," he said.

"Mutual compliance with New START, we believe and we are confident, strengthens the security interests of the United States, our allies and partners, but also of Russia, the Russian people, and the rest of the world. That is why we are working to preserve the treaty," Price added.

Washington "continues to be prepared" to engage meaningfully with Russia on arms control, the spokesperson emphasized;

He went on to elaborate: "We want to work constructively with Russia on this; we believe it’s in our interests.  We also believe it’s the responsible thing to do.  It’s the responsible thing to do for the American people.  It’s the responsible thing to do for the Russian people.  It is the responsible thing to do for people around the world.  Just as we were last year when we were set to meet with representatives of the Russian Federation in Cairo, we remain ready to meet in the Bilateral Consultative Commission to discuss U.S. and Russian concerns related to compliance with the treaty and to discuss all other issues related to implementation of this treaty.  We believe it is that important."

Alex Raufoglu