Moscow ready to respect the New Start treaty if Washington gives up being “hostile”







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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is ready to fully comply with the bilateral New Start treaty limiting Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals until 2026 if Washington abandons its “hostile stance” towards Moscow, the deputy minister said. of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Ryabkov, quoted by the Russian press agencies.

The United States also said this week that it was ready to comply with this treaty if Moscow did the same. Meanwhile, Washington has indicated it will stop providing Russia with certain notifications required under the treaty, including location data for their missiles and launchers, in retaliation for Moscow’s “continued violations” of the agreement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last February that Moscow was suspending its participation in New Start, but without formally withdrawing from the treaty, demanding that Washington end its support for Ukraine and asking for a multilateral agreement that would include France. and Great Britain.

According to Sergei Riabkov, the American decision does not come as a surprise to Moscow and Russia’s choice to suspend the New Start treaty remains valid despite the retaliatory measures.

“Whatever action or countermeasure the United States takes, our decision to suspend the Start treaty is unwavering,” he said, quoted by TASS news agency.

“And our own condition for returning to a fully functioning treaty is that the United States abandon its fundamentally hostile stance toward Russia,” he added.

(Reuters report)











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