There has been an exchange of a diplomatic note between Russia and the United States, Ned Price, US State Department Spokesperson said. “I think it is fair to say that what we have learned from that diplomatic note did not tell us anything we didn’t already know from the public statements that have emanated from Moscow.
Our position remains the same. Russia’s decision to unilaterally suspend its participation in New START – it is unfortunate, but more so it is irresponsible. It is the responsible thing to do for nuclear powers to engage in arms control, to engage in other tools of strategic stability that, throughout the height of the Cold War and since the dawn of the nuclear era, have prevented an exchange between nuclear powers. Russia is not better off in a world where the two largest nuclear powers are – no longer engage in bilateral arms control. And Russia’s willingness to promote instability and use irresponsible nuclear rhetoric endanger every nation on this planet.
Russia’s purported suspension of New START will, at the same time, not stop the United States from continuing to support Ukraine. We are doing precisely what we told President Putin and the Kremlin and the rest of the world that we would do should Moscow continue with its aggression last year. Mutual compliance with New START, we believe and we are confident, strengthens the security interests of the United States, our allies and partners, but also of Russia, the Russian people, and the rest of the world.
That is why we are working to preserve the treaty. We continue to urge Moscow to resume full compliance with the treaty”, he added.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minster Sergei Ryabkov’s said that they will not review their position on this unless the U.S. changes position on Ukraine. Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy permanent representative of Russia at the United Nations, assured that Moscow has no intention of using nuclear weapons against the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, such a scenario will be possible only if the existence of Russia is threatened.
