Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia is interested in nuclear arms control talks with the US but agreed that such negotiations are unlikely to take place at this point.
“We are interested [in such talks] as we believe that [it’s necessary] to continue talks and discuss this issue given the tectonic shifts in the field of European and even global security. Such talks are necessary, the whole world needs them,” Peskov said, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Peskov was responding to a question about comments from US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, who said it’s unlikely arms control will take place at the moment. “Perhaps, we should agree with the ambassador that it looks unlikely at the moment but sooner or later we will need to return to this issue,” Peskov said.
In an interview with Tass, Sullivan said he wasn’t told to prepare for arms control talks. “It is certainly not something I’ve been instructed by Washington to be prepared for. On the other hand, it is one of the most significant issues between the US and Russia,” he said.
There is currently only one remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia, the New START, which limits the number of missiles, bombers, and warheads each power can have deployed. Last year, President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to extend New START for five years.
Last week, a US official told The New York Times that “right now it’s almost impossible to imagine” the US and Russia negotiating a replacement for New START before it expires in 2026.
Washington and Moscow had been holding arms control talks, but the Biden administration halted them after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. While Russian officials have said they’re open to resuming the negotiations, US officials haven’t shown interest.
Now that US has realized it has lost it’s war against Russia, that it is US and it’s European lapdogs that’ll suffer and not the Russians and the rest of the free world, US will try to walk it back before pump prices hits astronomical levels.
This by agreeing to Russia’s demands that they delivered at the end of the last year before US kicked off the war, i.e that NATO withdraws to borders it occupied before 1997 among other things.
What if we don’t have a nuclear war? What about all those trillions of dollars we spent? Are we just going to let it all go to waste?
So, we have a nuclear war just so that all the money we pissed down the drain on nuclear weapons won’t be a complete waste?
Look, we’re talking trillions of dollars here.
Ah! *** slap on the forehead *** But of course!
Interesting, now when the Russians are bankrupt they are willing to talk about arms control.
The main problem with the Russians is that they aren’t living up to their words, that’s what forced the US out of the INF treaty.
So they should start with sacking Putin and his warmongering cohorts, then I’m sure the US will take the Russians more seriously.
Russia says one thing then does another then lies about it.
And when accused of lying they invoke the DDD card.
Deny, Deflect, Discredit.
What can you tell me about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction?
It was a slam dunk.
You are describing the U.S. not Russia.
Precisely. There were no WMD. We knew it. (Bush Sr’s inspectors said so) The UN refused to authorize it. The invasion of Iraq was unprovoked and sold with lies.
Two provocations that contributed to the start of this were US involvement in the Euromaidan coup in 2014 and Trump’s decision to revoke President Reagan’s Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Russia undoubtedly assumed that the US intended to deploy “tactical” nukes along its borders. That assumption was no doubt validated when Trump actually started producing tactical nuclear weapons in 2019. Biden opposed these weapons as a candidate, but funded them in his 2021 budget as President. That decision undoubtedly prompted Russia, North Korea, and China to double down on their efforts to reestablish the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) defense by implementing the use of hypersonic missiles, some of which can now be launched by submarines from locations that the US cannot watch by satellite.
Sane people understand that the situation must be addressed seriously. Russia announced a willingness to do so. The US should seize the opportunity while we still can.
The US pulled out of the TNF treaty because Russia didn’t adhere to it. So it makes sense to be cautious before negotiating with the Russians. As they say comrade, trust but verify.
There was talk about a new weapon that could exceed the range specified in the treaty. But THAT was never verified. Trump wanted to introduce tactical nukes. He found an excuse. It was entirely disproportionate to even the contested threat. Check it out Harpo.
So when did the Russians start developing tactical nukes then, comrade?
I am not aware of a current tactical nuclear weapons program in Russia mein freund. But NATO started its tactical nuclear weapons upgrade in 2012, and Trump restarted mass production in 2019.
Russia have spent significant resources over the last 5+ years to modernise its nuclear arsenal, money that would have been better spent on hospitals and schools. It’s really sad.
Why don’t you blame the very country that invaded Ukraine. If Russia didn’t invade, we would not be talking about this today. Russia made a choice, a very bad one.
Its theU.S. whose short trillions on its debt and obligations. And OH YES, The Petro Dollar has apparently over. The Saudis are accepting other currencies for oil now. But the ROUBLE has become the mode of exchange for Russian gas & petroleum, kind of kicking the dollar out of its former glory…!!!!!!
I think that just the Russian hypersonics program has the U.S. taking the RUSSIANS very seriously. As far as I know, the U.S. has no defense against ICBM’s now, and no defense against hypersonics of any stripe. Some analystists have said the U.S. has fallen a decade behind in advanced weapons. And the swipe “Now that they are broke” is a good laugh. The U.S. squandered trillions on their Great War on Terror while Russia & China were developing their hypirsonic missiles, next generation of advanced jet fighters, that are lighter, faster AND more nimble than the 50% effective F35
“while Russia & China were developing their hypirsonic missiles, next generation of advanced jet fighters“
Ehh, comrade, why can’t poor Russia achieve air superiority over Ukraine then??
“We are not the bad guy,” but sorry it won’t happen.
That is all this says. The US has been saying the same thing for years.
The reality is the US wants to limit China, not Russia, and China won’t talk because it must first catch up to any numbers it would be willing to accept in any talks.
The US does not seriously think the Russians can or would break out with significantly greater numbers, which could be limited only by a treaty. They are both broke and in a war right now, not a position from which to do a vastly expensive expansion of their strategic nuclear arsenal. China on the other had is doing exactly that, and has been for some time.
But it could be with the Ukraine debacle Europe has learned a lesson. Such that Russia could negotiate with individual European countries re their INF arsenals and ICBM installations/platforms??
Yes, they may learn a lesson about independence from Washington.
However, such arms limitation really requires everybody with such arms in one deal. An example was the Washington Naval Limitation Treaty of 1922, which began to fall apart with the London Treaty of 1930 that did not include all the original members, and then the Anglo-German treaty of 1935 giving Germany a navy greater than allowed some under the original deal.
About the only thing that could definitely be said about the Chinese nuclear arsenal is that it’s much smaller than that of Russia or the US. The big picture is that the US and USSR had tens of thousands of nuclear warheads 50 years ago and they’re easier to build now. The US does not need to get into a warhead building contest with China, or Russia for that matter. I think the Chinese figure they own the 21st century and would rather it wasn’t blown up.