March 3, 2024 (EIRNS)—In an article posted this week, the Arms Control Association reports that Russia has rejected a formal U.S. proposal to resume talks “without preconditions” on a new arms control framework to succeed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) which expires in 2026. “The proposal of the U.S. Side to launch a bilateral dialogue ‘to manage nuclear risks and develop a post-2026 arms control framework’ is unacceptable to us,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Dec. 2 response obtained by the monthly journal Arms Control Today. “Such ideas are completely inappropriate and absolutely untimely for they cannot be considered adequate to today’s realities and to the state of Russia-U.S. relations.”
Citing NATO and the “acute conflict around Ukraine,” the Russian statement also said, “At the moment, the U.S. side does not demonstrate any interest in a mutually acceptable settlement of the current crisis [Ukraine], does not show readiness to take into account Russia’s security concerns…. Thus, there is no visible basis for a constructive and fruitful dialogue with the United States on strategic stability and arms control.”
The U.S. proposal was first announced by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the annual meeting of the Arms Control Association last June.
