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US hindering START talks – Russian foreign minister
Published: 17 December, 2009, 19:01
Edited: 14 March, 2010, 10:04
TAGS: Arms, Military, Russia, Politics, USA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Thursday that the US side was holding up talks on the new treaty on strategic arms reduction.
The minister said that the signing of the document in Copenhagen this week is unlikely.
“Our team is ready for work and several contacts between Moscow and Washington took place yesterday,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted the minister as saying on Thursday. But the Russian official added that US negotiators had said they needed additional instructions to go on with the process.
The Russian minister noted that the completion stage of the talks required two working principles from negotiators. These are the deepest possible reductions of offensive weapons and the development of control mechanisms that would match the new treaty and not the recently expired one.
The likelihood of a signing in Copenhagen is low, according to Lavrov, as more time is needed for the technical work. The minister said that he thought it most probable that in Copenhagen the Russian and US presidents would announce that the work on the document is over, but the actual signing will be postponed till January next year.
The START -1 treaty, the most comprehensive agreement to cut nuclear weapons in history, expired earlier this month. It was signed by Presidents Gorbachev and Bush in 1991 and more than halved the nuclear arsenals held by the two countries.
Moscow and Washington have been working for months to come up with an agreement to replace it.
17.12.2009, 16:31
2 comments
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17.12.2009, 22:27
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This title is "too cute by half". It is not appropriate to put the words in Mr. Lavrov's mouth. US side is actually just waiting additional instructions. This is what routinely happens in any negotiations. To say that Russian Foreign Minister is "snitching" on US side for "hindering" START talks is not only innacurate, but is disrespecfull to Russia's Foreign Minister. Sorry, but loose lips sink ships.
The start talks are a bad idea for both Russia and the United States. Old excess weapons will probably need to be destroyed anyway. All the hype and to do about it is counter productive..If Russia and the United States unilaterally got rid of all their nuclear weapons it would make the world many times more dangerous. Practically all major nations that want nuclear weapons will have them before long. The genie will never be put back in the bottle. The world must adapt to this new reality. Atomic weapons will probably be used again somewhere in the world, so what Russia and the United States agree on will not matter in the long run. The key question is "what will all the other countries with atomic bombs be doing in the meantime". The prospect of a nuclear exchange somewhere in the world is very real. Perhaps it is time, once again, to start building underground bunkers nationwide. Talks will not cut it..