MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russia will closely monitor US actions following the expiration of the New START Treaty, but will approach the situation with full responsibility and will not take steps leading to escalation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NTV channel.
"We will very carefully observe how the American side acts now, after the formal absence of any limiting mechanisms. At the same time, we will treat this situation with full responsibility and do not intend to be the first to take steps toward escalation," Lavrov emphasized.
"What are the Americans going to do? US President Donald Trump has said that this treaty is ‘bad’ and allegedly was being violated. What violations did he see on the Russian side? I do not know. We had serious questions regarding the strictness of compliance with the treaty’s requirements, to which the Americans did not respond," the minister continued.
According to him, Russia on its part did not allow such violations, at least for as long as the treaty remained fully in force for it. "President Donald Trump has once again said that now a treaty should be concluded with China. The Chinese have repeatedly presented their position, and we respect it. But if the emphasis is shifted to such a ‘tripling’ of the process, this may simply be an attempt to divert attention from the substance of the issue," Sergey Lavrov noted.
"At the same time, the Americans say nothing about Britain or France. Although they have legal allied obligations with the United States (unlike us with the Chinese) to fight together," the Russian foreign minister emphasized. "And, of course, it is difficult to imagine a long-term multilateral agreement without taking into account their capabilities," he added.