Russia Cannot Continue Cutting Nuclear Arsenal in Tandem With US – Mission to UN

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia can no longer cut its nuclear arsenal based on its bilateral deals with the United States alone, the country’s mission to the UN warned Wednesday.

"Russia cannot move any further in the reduction of its nuclear weapons based only on bilateral agreements with the US… We cannot continue to ignore the potential of all other nuclear weapon states any longer," the mission said.

The statement came a week after the UN opened for signing the world’s first legally binding treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, which seeks to scrap some 15,000 nukes stashed worldwide.

Russia is concerned over uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s stance on the existing US-Russian arms control treaties – the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Washington's ambition to create a global missile defense system, its decision not to ratify the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the possibility of future arms deployment in outer space contributed to Russia’s decision to exercise "utmost caution" with regard to the UN initiative that, the mission said, was unlikely to change the status quo.

 

sputniknews.com