MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Russia does not reject the very idea of arms control, but a dialogue on this track will be possible only if and when the United States abandons its anti-Russian stance, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS in an exclusive interview on the results of 2023.
"We do not reject the very idea of arms control. However, any hypothetical dialogue in the future on ways of minimizing the conflict potential and on parameters for further coexistence with the West will be possible only on the basis of equality and mandatory respect for Russia's fundamental security interests and dramatically new geopolitical realities. As long as there is no readiness for this on the part of the United States and its allies, any discussions will have no prospects," Lavrov said.
"As for the outlook for a dialogue with the United States on the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) and an agreement on something to replace it, we have made it clear that such a dialogue will be impossible without Washington's consent to abandon its anti-Russian course," he stressed.
Lavrov pointed out it was pretty clear to Moscow the US ideas of launching nuclear arms control talks regardless of the "negative military-political context and the dismal state of affairs in Russia-West relations" were utterly out of place. As Lavrov explained, Washington would like to reduce nuclear risks for itself by securing an advantage with regard to other military capabilities.
"We find such an approach, which the Americans have given the uncomfortable name ‘compartmentalization’, i.e., ‘Russia is an enemy, but we need something from it’," absolutely unacceptable. Especially at a time when the United States and its allies continue to fuel the escalation of the crisis around Ukraine, making no secret of their intention to 'inflict a strategic defeat on Russia'," Lavrov stated.
On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was suspending its participation in New START but not withdrawing from it altogether. He emphasized that before resuming the discussion on continuing activities under this agreement Russia would like to have a clear idea first how it will take into account the arsenals not only of the United States, but also of other NATO nuclear powers — Britain and France. On February 28, Putin signed a law suspending Russia's participation in New START.