Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik in an interview published today that Russia is noticing signals from the United States indicating Washington’s readiness to discuss issues of strategic stability, and is ready for a dialogue; but Russia will press its missile defense concerns.
“We are not yet aware from what angle [U.S. President] Joe Biden’s administration will address various aspects of arms control, including anti-missile issues. At the same time, we are registering signals from Washington [showing] an intention to discuss issues of strategic stability with us,” Zakharova said. “However, we will not agree to anything without our interests and concerns being taken into account in return. If we manage to jointly arrive at a balance of interests, then we can talk about agreements,” the diplomat stated.
Zakharova accused the United States of pursuing absolute military dominance and counting on Russia’s nuclear deterrent getting weaker. “The U.S. has adopted a goal of reaching absolute dominance in the military arena and counts on the devaluation of Russia’s nuclear deterrence potential, [combined] with a focus on creation of a global missile defense system,” Zakharova explained. She also mentioned that Washington was making efforts to boost its military capabilities in space, and to create means for a rapid and high-precision non-nuclear strike.https://sputniknews.com/world/202105031082788867-russia-ready-to-discuss-strategic-stability-issues-with-us-moscow-says/
Meantime, Zakharova gave a long interview to RT television today, which addressed some of the same issues, but included an extensive discussion about Russia’s relationship to the dollar-based international financial system. The transcript is posted to the Foreign Ministry’s website: https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4719893
