The United States should have dealt with the Russian side earlier about the extension of the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START), now it is impossible, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov believes.
He spoke about it within the framework of the Valdai club, writes RBC.
“Now it is very convenient to explain to the public that Russia, sorry, slammed the door when it was possible to come to an agreement. No, dear colleagues in the United States, it was necessary to agree earlier,” the release quotes the diplomat.
Ryabkov indicated that in the current situation there could be no talk of secret and closed — any agreements regarding the renewal of “something about START”.
The agreement provided for mutual inspections between the United States and the Russian Federation military nuclear facilities of the other side for mutual nuclear weapons control. However, in 2020 these checks stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 24, 2022, Russia initiated the NWO in Ukraine, during which the United States and a number of other countries supplied weapons to Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russia. In August 2022, Russia denied US inspections of its nuclear facilities, saying the sanctions prevented Russian inspectors from obtaining transit visas to visit the US. On January 31, 2023, the US State Department accused Russia of violating START III.
On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia's participation in the treaty in a message to the Federal Assembly.
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