US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, August 11, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, said that the biggest international problem is the situation around nuclear disarmament negotiations with Russia. The conversation was broadcast on YouTube.
The head of the White House noted that Moscow wants to conclude an agreement with Washington, and that is why the two countries are working on it. “I don’t think they will wait, which is great. This is the biggest problem in the world today, ”he stressed.
On August 2, the US President’s National Security Assistant Robert O’Brien announced that the US expects to sign an agreement with Russia that would limit all nuclear weapons. He described the telephone conversation between the American and Russian presidents on July 23 as “cordial.” According to a White House spokesman, both leaders promised to make every effort to ensure that negotiations on a new START treaty, which began in June, would help “make it even better.”
Earlier, Moscow has repeatedly called on the United States to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START III), which ensures global stability and protects countries from an arms race. However, Washington is putting forward a number of conditions for signing the agreement. The document will expire in 2021.
On July 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that recently the risks of a nuclear confrontation have seriously increased. Russia has repeatedly noted that in a nuclear collision there can be no winners. On the same day, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also noted that some of the mistakes made by the American side are irreversible. For example, it is now impossible to return to the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) after the US withdraws from it.
In addition, the deputy minister pointed out the increasing frequency of the US’s refusals to fulfill its obligations under international treaties and stressed that Russia is ready to respond to any US attempts to gain military advantage for itself.
In February 2018, the United States adopted a new doctrine according to which it reserves the right to preemptive nuclear strike. In addition, Washington completed the modernization of the country’s nuclear forces and began developing new low-yield missiles.