Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (archive from Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed that Russia would be ready to return to an app START Once the West is ready to accommodate Moscow’s legitimate concerns.
Peskov said in a press statement, on Wednesday, that the West’s reaction to Russia’s suspension of its participation in the treaty “does not make us hope that it is ready for negotiations,” according to local media.
He also added that Russia will be patient “waiting for the West to mature for a normal dialogue on START”.
Adopt a law
It is noteworthy that earlier, Wednesday, the Russian Duma adopted a law on suspending Moscow’s participation in the “START” treaty.
The Duma, which is the lower house of the Russian parliament, said in a statement, “The bill stipulates that the Russian Federation suspend the treaty concluded between it and the United States of America on measures aimed at further reducing and limiting strategic offensive weapons, signed in Prague on April 8, 2010.”
He also pointed out that the decision to resume Russia’s participation in the treaty will be taken by the country’s president, according to local media.
The law will enter into force after its official publication.
Threat of nuclear tests
This came after the announcement of the Russian president Vladimir PutinOn Tuesday, his country suspended its participation in the Russian-American “New START” treaty on nuclear disarmament.
In his speech, he said: “They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and attack our nuclear sites, and for this reason it is my duty to announce that Russia will suspend its participation in the (New) START treaty.”
He also threatened to conduct new nuclear tests if Washington did so first, according to AFP.
While a number of Western countries such as Britain, France and the United States expressed regret over the Russian decision, expressing the hope that Moscow would reconsider this decision.
Another bilateral agreement
It is noteworthy that this agreement, which was signed in 2010, is the last bilateral agreement of its kind that binds the two powers.
At the beginning of August, Russia announced the suspension of the planned US inspections at its military sites within the framework of the agreement, stressing that this step came in response to the American obstacles to Russian inspections in the United States.
