Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin admitted that the US position on the measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms (START, unofficial name – START-3) may change. In an interview with ” Rossiyskaya Gazeta ” he explained such conclusions by the political situation in the country.
“Under far-fetched pretexts, the American side renounces its treaty obligations in the field of arms control, which hinder the achievement of global domination. After withdrawing from the ABM Treaty in 2002, the next step of the American side was the denunciation of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate and Shorter-Range Missiles,” – Fomin said, noting that the United States adheres to the course of building up its military power.
The Deputy Minister stressed that while deploying American missiles in Europe, the Russian side reserves the right to “adequate response measures”.
December 24, the special representative of the American president Donald Trump for arms control Marshall Billingsley stated that the US is not interested in extending START. The politician called the missile treaty between Washington and Moscow a bad deal and explained that it was because of this that START “had a hard time in the Senate.”
On October 16, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin suggested Washington to extend the current START- 3 “without any conditions for at least a year, in order to be able to conduct meaningful negotiations on all parameters.” Assistant to the US President for National Security Robert O’Brien called this initiative a failure .
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in 2010 by the presidents of Russia and the United States – Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama . The agreement came into force in 2011 and expires in February 2021.