MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Russia demands the UK and France join the nuclear disarmament process; the risk of another US attack on Iran remains high; and unrest in Minnesota may harm the Donald Trump administration. These stories topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
A future document that would replace the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) must cover NATO’s overall capabilities, including the arsenals of France and the United Kingdom, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, told Izvestia.
New START will expire on February 5. There is still no dialogue yet between Russia and the United States on extending the treaty, although Moscow suggested that the key limits established in the document be extended for at least a year, Ulyanov noted.
The lack of a new agreement increases risks on the international stage. Countries will continue to develop their nuclear forces based on expectations that their opponents are also likely to do so. If New START is not extended and no new treaty is signed, a long-term multilateral arms race with no limits would begin, Dmitry Stefanovich, researcher with the Center for International Security at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, pointed out.
