Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov today dismissed claims from President Obama that the nuclear deals reached during his time in office were everything Russia would’ve been willing to reach, saying Russia had always favored further nuclear disarmament so long as it was proportional with America’s own nuclear arsenal.
Speculation about possible new nuclear arms deals were raised over the weekend, when President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he would lift American sanctions against Russia as part of a broader deal which would include substantial nuclear arms reduction.
Trump made the suggestion in an interview, and didn’t offer any specifics on this negotiation. It was panned yesterday by Obama, however, who insisted the US shouldn’t link the sanctions to nuclear deals, and that if there were any more good nuclear arms deals to be had with Russia, he’d have made them.
There were no signs of US-Russia nuclear arms discussions in recent years at all, however, with early efforts reached at great difficulty, given the Obama Administration’s unwillingness to discuss their missile defense systems along the Russian frontier in Europe. The cuts also faced stiff resistance from US Congressional hawks.
Any substantial new deals are likely to rest heavily on the Russian notion of proportionality, as Russia views the NATO expansion into former Warsaw Pact nations as having dramatically changed the strategic situation in Europe, complicating efforts to retain a suitable deterrent.
From the Russian point of view, there is no possibility of reductions while those missile defense systems are being installed in Europe, raising the possibility that a small number of nuclear weapons could be shot down- and raising the prospect of a first strike.
As there was no way Obama would have been willing to spend the political capital required to halt those sites, he’s not wrong when he says the deals he reached were all the Russians would agree to. And that won’t change under Trump- not unless he’s willing to cement over those missiles.
We will no doubt hear from the Russians that cuts are possible- but only if those missile defense installations are shuttered.
Those missile defense system so close to Russia would really be good first strike offence missiles stations too , with Russia having almost no warning time at all . Of course those missiles defense stations are for stopping Iran not Russia . OR so we say ? United States would never lie ? would they ?
Russia could be eliminated in matter of a couple of minutes rather than a hour of two . President Bush put the United States on the idea of the right to a first strike policy to eliminate a need for war . I wonder when he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw a good soul . Did Bush reach the conclusion a good soul would never strike first . Obama inherited more from Bush than just a declining economy . Obama , Bush and Bill Clinton were all three using force to create a world global government with out telling us what they were trying to accomplish . The American people smelled a rat ,And that is why Trump won the election
That’s a pretty good quick analysis of the situation Px. This is about negotiations and not about some lowlife Trump supporters moving their weapons and tin soldiers around Europe. Russia, under Putin’s leadership will be fine. Maybe even better than fine because of Putin and their genius of negotiations, Lavrov.
Negotiations usually only bring forth results when one side is negotiating for a position of strength and the other side is negotiating from a position of weakness.
Trump is no nice guy who wants to do good. All that suggested that in his stump speeches was only for the sake of being elected. But Trump does want to win concessions from Russia.
Trump will likely be thinking that won’t be too difficult but he’s only thinking that from what he imagines is a position of great strength over Russia, due to the sanctions. While in truth, Russia has long ago resigned itself to understanding that gaining any relief from sanctions applied by the West, is a futile effort that is never going to pay off. Russia has turned away from the West now and so that puts Russia in a position of equal strength with the US.
Let’s see who the US can put in to sit across the table from Lavrov. That’s going to be a pretty tall order to fill.
Raimondo said on January 15: “Is the Obama administration out to provoke a military conflict with Russia in the days before Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office?”
Well, apparently not so far!