/ world today news/ Great Britain and France must participate in the negotiations between Russia and the United States to reduce strategic offensive weapons. As noted by the permanent representative of the Russian Federation in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, the potential of these countries has become “very significant and sensitive.” Almost a year ago, Moscow ended its participation in this treaty in response to NATO and US plans to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Under what conditions can parties resume their strategic arms reduction obligations?
The dialogue on the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (NEW START), which expires in February 2026, should include not only Russia and the USA, but also France and Great Britain This position of Moscow was recalled by the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.
According to him, “relatively small by old standards”, the potential of these countries has become “very significant and sensitive”. Therefore, Russia considers it inappropriate to limit itself to a bilateral reduction of Russian and American arms. At the same time, Moscow does not anticipate China’s willingness to engage in negotiations on strategic nuclear potential and does not intend to force Beijing to do so.
Let’s recall that Russia announced the suspension of its participation in New START in February last year. As President Vladimir Putin explained, the reason for this is the desire of Washington representatives to conduct inspections of Russian nuclear facilities in a situation where several of them have been fired upon by the Air Force with the cooperation of the Pentagon.
“The US and NATO directly state that their goal is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. And at the same time they are going to tour our defense facilities?” the president asked rhetorically. In addition, in order to return to the New START, Russia must understand how the total strike arsenal of the NATO countries will be accounted for, Putin emphasized, because the missiles of France and Great Britain “are also aimed at us.”
The New START treaty itself was signed in 2010 by the presidents of Russia and the United States, Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, for ten years, with the possibility of an extension for five more. Moscow insisted on extending the treaty for the maximum period, but those terms did not sit well with the administration of former US President Donald Trump, who wanted to conclude a “major agreement” in the field of arms control with Russia, China and possibly “someone else”.
Experts called Trump’s initiative unfeasible to mask his reluctance to extend the contract. In January 2021, the new White House administration led by Joe Biden announced its readiness to expand the document under the conditions proposed by Russia. On January 26, in their first telephone conversation, Putin and Biden discussed the need to extend the document. Then Putin signed the law to extend the New START.
According to experts, the selfish position of the US in foreign policy, as well as the actions of the White House in Ukraine and the reluctance to consider nuclear issues outside of relations between Moscow and Washington, put the world on the brink of a new nuclear race. However, practical solutions to this situation are still not in sight, which forces Russia to rely only on its own forces.
In addition, according to analysts, the participation of Paris and London in the current agreement is practically impossible. “This document does not include any provisions that could cover Great Britain and France. There, the number of carriers and warheads is clearly defined,” recalled Alexey Arbatov, head of the Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“In general, the agreement was extended once in 2021. According to its members, it can be extended for no more than five years only once,” the interlocutor continued. “Therefore, we can now talk about how to respect this agreement in full and after February 2026 try to conclude a new agreement as soon as possible. But when New START is stopped and a new agreement can be reached, then there is no basis for negotiations”, he adds.
Arbatov explained why the US is interested in including China in this dialogue. “Britain and France are not building their capabilities, while China is building its forces at a fairly intense pace: building silos, building intercontinental ballistic missiles, building nuclear submarines and so on,” the speaker said.
In order to restore the effect of the New START before its expiration in February 2026, Arbatov emphasizes, it is necessary to solve the main military-political issue regarding the support for Ukraine by NATO and above all by the USA.
“Russia has turned New START into a tool to pressure the United States because Washington is interested in this agreement. And, as we see, in some respects the US position is noticeably changing in relation to domestic political disputes.
If the position changes so much that the Americans support peace talks, then it will be possible to return to full compliance with the New START treaty. And when it expires, we can start intensive negotiations on the next agreement on this topic and try to solve the problems of the other three nuclear powers – Great Britain, France and China”, believes Arbatov.
According to the expert, the issue of New START will not become central during the US presidential election campaign. “This theme will be in the third and fourth roles, but it will be touched upon. The American president will say that the US is in favor of full compliance with the treaty,” the expert is convinced.
“Trump is indeed pushing for a new strategic arms control agreement with Russia and China. But now there seems to be no such position. And I think that now we are not talking about the fate of New START, about its extension or replacement. These are preliminary talks,” says Pavel Palazhchenko, a former personal translator and assistant to ex-USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, and now head of the Gorbachev Foundation’s press service.
According to him, the discussion of the Russian initiative is possible if the strategic stability talks are resumed, “this is a broader topic within which the countries can discuss the nuclear weapons of all countries, not just Britain, France and China.”
“Let me remind you that when the ‘zero option’ was being negotiated, the Soviet Union proposed to the US that they remove British and French intermediate-range missiles. Washington, of course, did not accept such a proposal,” noted political scientist Vladimir Kornilov.
The agreement in its current form creates an imbalance – Russia and the US reduce their nuclear stockpiles, but “other nuclear states, including Washington’s NATO allies, are not part of this deal.”
According to the expert, the US will be against the idea of Britain and France participating in the discussion, and after 2026 New START will cease to exist. “The United States has taken a course to inflame anti-Russian sentiment and strain relations between the West and Russia. I don’t think the situation will change in three years,” the source said.
“If no new START appears after 2026, no tragedy will occur. We understand what the US has, what its potential is. And thank God that we are separated by an ocean – this is a certain guarantee of security, because the flight time of a ballistic missile is 25-30 minutes, that is, for a retaliatory strike we have a certain period of time to assess the scale of the threat and decide the response “, says Vadim Kozyulin, a teacher at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian MFA.
However, in the absence of a new agreement, channels of interaction will be lost, which will not benefit global security. “Of course, we will suspect our opponents of trying to outplay us. This must be openly discussed and agreed upon, otherwise a situation of global instability will arise,” concludes the expert.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Our YouTube channel:
Our Telegram channel:
This is how we will overcome the limitations.
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages.
#putting #world #brink #nuclear #race
