Russia and the United States were approaching a breakthrough on Tuesday in long-term negotiations aimed at extending the breakthrough nuclear weapons trade, which expires within a few months.
US officials said they were ready to meet Russian diplomats as soon as possible, shortly after Moscow said it could compromise US demands.
Both sides struggled to find a common ground for the fate of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. This will limit the number of warheads deployed by both sides to 1,550, but will expire in February next year.
The United States wants to re-create an agreement to cover new types of weapons, including China, but Russia is prepared to extend the agreement for five years without new conditions-and both sides repeatedly overwhelm the other’s proposal. It was.
The agreement was signed in 2010 at the peak of expectations for a “reset” of relations between the two countries.
Along with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) during the Cold War, it was regarded as the centerpiece of international arms control.
However, the United States withdrew from the INF last year after accusing Moscow of violating it.
Most recently, last week, the US didn’t seem to want to compromise on a new start. Authorities have rejected Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s offer to extend the deal for one year without limiting the development of new weapons as a “non-starter.”
But with US President Donald Trump lagging behind in next month’s election polls, his administration has shown that it supports the maintenance of the treaty.
And Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it agreed with the US’s request for a one-year freeze on arms development and expressed its willingness to compromise.
“We thank the Russian Federation for its willingness to move forward on the issue of nuclear arms control,” said Morgan Ortgauss, a spokeswoman for the State Department.
“The United States is ready to meet immediately to finalize a verifiable agreement. We expect Russia to empower its diplomats to do the same.”
In the course of months of talks, Washington demanded that tactical nuclear weapons be subject to the treaty, arguing that China should be included, even if Beijing did not show interest.
However, Russia is believed to possess a larger and more diverse tactical weapon.
The Kremlin is generally considered an important strategic asset as nuclear weapons are heavily devoted to Washington’s defense.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia had 6,375 nuclear warheads, including those that were not deployed earlier this year.
US, Russia Edge Back Towards Talks On Nuclear Arms Pact Source link US, Russia Edge Back Towards Talks On Nuclear Arms Pact