Russia is prepared for the new reality of a world without limits in nuclear arms control, after the New START treaty expires at the end of this week, declared on Tuesday the main Russian representative for arms control.
Unless Moscow and Washington reach a last-minute bilateral agreement of some kind, the “New START” treaty, signed in 2010 by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, will expire on February 5th.
“The absence of a response is also a response”, declared Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, quoted by Reuters. He made the comments during a visit to Beijing, referring to what he claimed is the absence of a response from Washington to the Russian proposals for extending the limits provided by New START.
Ryabkov emphasized that Russia is prepared for the new reality in which the world’s two largest nuclear powers will have no limits, for the first time in decades.
He also stated that Russia supports China’s position on arms control. Referring to Iran, he said that the United States’ proposals to Tehran are equivalent to ultimatums.
He also stated that if the US installs large numbers of missile defense systems in Greenland, then Russia will be forced to take “compensatory measures” in its military sphere.
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