SOCHI, June 23. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov did not rule out that Washington may take steps to withdraw from the New START Treaty.
"If the treaty dies itself, that is, expires, or the Americans take some steps to withdraw from this treaty, which I cannot rule out, and some build-up in this area begins, it will be an alarming development. But in any case, our security interests will not suffer," the senior diplomat told reporters on Friday.
Ryabkov said that "ordinary international law allows for situations where the opposite side, under conditions of suspension of obligations by one of the parties to a treaty, can act in a similar way." "But, of course, we would not like to see New START collapse through the fault of the US," the senior diplomat added, "They have already treated this document quite negligently."
"Our capabilities in this sphere are such that any negative scenarios can be anticipated and mitigated with the means at our disposal," Ryabkov pointed out.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) but not withdrawing from it. The president stressed that before any discussion about an extension of the New START Treaty could begin, the Russian side wants to understand how the treaty will take into account not only the United States’ arsenals but also the stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France. On February 28, the president signed a law on the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New START Treaty.