GORKI, January 27. /TASS/. The US withdrawal from various international treaties has created an unfavorable background for further negotiations on the restriction of strategic weapons, says Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.
"As for the withdrawal from various agreements, treaties… You know, it is always bad. We always treat it negatively," Medvedev said.
"The Americans withdrew from a large number of treaties lately. We regret it, but what could we do? It’s up to them," the official said. In his opinion, "it is natural that the background for further talks, for example, on the restriction of strategic offensive weapons will be extremely complicated."
"If such events happen, let’s put it straight, this is a bad background for further talks on this issue, for prolongation of any treaties," Medvedev says. According to the official, "in this regard, it is impossible to rule out any development of events from the standpoint of law of treaties."
"And I’m not even talking about our position," the official said.
He mentioned the New START Treaty, signed in 2010 by Barack Obama and Medvedev, who then served as Russian President; the treaty was signed in February 2021 for five years.
"The New START Treaty, which we signed with Obama, and which was recently prolonged by Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden for five more years — this is an important document and important treaty. And it is very good that it was possible to prolong it because we had no success with the previous US administration," the official noted.