... world
The resumption of U.S.–Russia consultations on arms control and strategic stability in Vienna in late June is certainly good news. If the discussions go well, then there may be hope that the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) will be extended after all. If the sides fail to come to an agreement, the likelihood of which, unfortunately, is extremely high, then in February 2021, New START will suffer the same fate as the Soviet–American Intermediate-Range Nuclear ...
TNI editor Jacob Heilbrunn interviews Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov about the New START Treaty and the state of U.S.-Russia relations.
Heilbrunn
: The U.S. is pushing very hard against China right now, at least rhetorically. China has vowed to smash any Taiwanese move toward independence and looks to be cracking down in Hong Kong as well. Do you see this as another ...
... should draw from this. One is that the 50-year-old arms control regime that helped keep the Cold War cold is beyond repair and is fast becoming history. Attempts to resuscitate it, noble as they are, will be futile. Even if a miracle happens and the New START is extended, it will be the last U.S.-Russian treaty regulating their most potent weapons. This means that for a long period of time, the global strategic regime will be essentially unregulated. Call it fully liberal. Nuclear deterrence based on the ability to set in motion mutual assured ...
Why Washington and Moscow Must Extend the New START Treaty
Ten years ago, the United States and Russia signed the New START treaty—a nuclear arms control agreement that we, as the heads of our governments’ respective delegations, helped negotiate. Since then, New START has played a
central role
in keeping the peace and preventing a dangerous arms race between ...
... participate, then other nuclear-armed states such as France and the United Kingdom should be involved.
In Russia’s view, which nuclear arms issues and which types of weapons should be part of any bilateral or multilateral follow-on negotiation to New START? Would Russia be willing to engage in negotiations designed to limit or reduce stockpiles of nonstrategic nuclear weapons as well as strategic nuclear weapons? When, in Russia’s view, should any such New START follow-on talks begin?
Antonov:
I would like to ...
... HCSW) and sea-based missiles (mainly the United States’ IRCPS [
3
], which is currently in development) also increase the possibilities for a counterforce strike.
— The evolution of the U.S. global missile defence programme. At the request of the Russian military leadership, New START mentioned that further reductions would require negotiations on missile defence restrictions. Although currently the development of ICBM interceptors
has been mostly abandoned as a dead-end concept
, work is being done on deploying missile ...
... a shared understanding of the dangers, and ways to mitigate potential sources of harm. As former foreign ministers, we pledge to continue speaking out on this issue and do our part in this effort.
Right now, the most important thing to do is extend New START. Russia has indicated, at the highest levels, its willingness to do so. All that President Trump needs to do is agree. Legislative approval is not required.
Time is critical. Doing nothing while waiting for a “better” agreement is a recipe for disaster: ...
... RIAC expert Ilya Kramnik spoke with Aleksey Arbatov, Vice-Chairman of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, Head of the Center for International Security at Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and Academician of the RAS. The conversation focused on the state of the treaty regime in reducing strategic offensive weapons, as well as the regime's prospects.
Mr. Arbatov, the Prague New START is coming to an end. What are the chances of it being prolonged and what would be the political consequences of this not happening?
Alexander Yermakov:
Darkened Skies: The U.S. Might Withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies
The chances are very ...
... measures do you think Russia and the U.S. should take upon the expiration of the New START Treaty?
Lecture by Richard Weitz “No Love Triangle Russia-USA-China: What Can We Expect from Our Partners?”
One of the crucial treaties between the U.S. and Russia is the New START Treaty which is set to expire soon. There are three possible options of what could happen with the agreement. The U.S. is still on the fence, and President Trump reportedly will not decide before next year.
First, it could expire in February ...
... this is the case, the task is to shorten the pause as much as possible and make the resumption of the talks as simple as possible. There are at least four ways of doing this.
First, even the absence of formal obligations under the INF Treaty or the New START Treaty cannot stop the sides from honouring them de facto. The analysis of the Russian and American nuclear modernisation plans shows that the sides do not intend to move beyond the existing agreements. An informal arrangement or at least a silent agreement to maintain the status quo in the nuclear sphere would definitely help Russia ...
