2023-05-29 13:55:00
Russia recently suspended its participation in a number of arms control agreements with Western countries, including the New START treaty that regulates nuclear proliferation.
The Kremlin said today, Monday, that a “vacuum” is forming in the field of arms control as a result of the deterioration of relations between a number of countries, and that Russia is not responsible for this situation.
This came in statements made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in response to a question regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to officially “denounce” an arms control treaty dating back to the end of the Cold War.
Peskov said in a regular press briefing: “In the field of arms control and strategic stability, a great void is forming now, of course, and it is preferable to fill it urgently through new legislation of international law to regulate this situation.”
He added, “This is in the interest of the whole world, but for that to happen, we need existing bilateral relations with a whole group of countries, and this does not exist at the present time,” adding that this “is not our fault.”
Weapons of the Russian army during a parade in Moscow (archive)
The Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, concluded in 1990, placed restrictions on the deployment of military equipment on the continent. Russia suspended its participation in the treaty in 2007, and “completely stopped” its participation in 2015.
Putin signed a decree this month symbolically denouncing the treaty following the matter was debated and voted on by the Russian parliament.
Russia recently suspended its participation in a number of arms control agreements with Western countries, including the New START treaty that regulates nuclear proliferation, and began transferring tactical nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus.
Relations between Moscow and Western countries deteriorated, reaching their lowest level since the end of the Cold War, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
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