MOSCOW, August 14./TASS/. In updating its armaments, the US has considerably deviated from the strategic arms reduction treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Tuesday.
"The existing treaty firmly and quite clearly registers those systems of strategic armaments that are to be reduced and restricted. Russia has complied with these terms and keeps complying with them rigorously, unlike the US, which, acting towards modernizing its own armaments, has sizably deviated from terms of this treaty," the diplomat stressed.
US President Donald Trump on August 13 signed a $716-billion defense budget for the 2019 fiscal year (beginning on October 1).
As it follows from the document, the US President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees no later than December 31, 2018 a report as to whether the President has raised the issue of the Russian weapon systems, specifically, the Sarmat heavy intercontinental missile system, the air-launched cruise missile Kh-101, the Status 6 unmanned underwater vehicle and the Avangard long-range hypersonic glide vehicle, in the appropriate dialogue with the Russian Federation under the New START Treaty.
The US President must report whether Russia will agree to declare these weapon systems as strategic offensive arms pursuant to the New START Treaty, the legislation says.