MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Moscow takes seriously Washington’s signals indicating possible issues with the ratification of future strategic stability agreements, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with Kommersant on Thursday.
"We take seriously US signals that there may be problems with the ratification of a possible new agreement. And it will indeed require ratification because this possible new agreement will deal with arms control issues that concern US national security, and our national security, too," Ryabkov pointed out.
"Any Washington administration has huge political, administrative and bureaucratic resources to ensure the necessary majority in the Senate, that is, the two-thirds majority that is required for the ratification of such agreements," the Russian diplomat went on to say. "As a rule, references to problems in the Senate make it clear that the administration itself doesn’t have enough political will," he added.
At the same time, the deputy foreign minister noted that such documents were no guarantee, given Washington’s current attitude to agreements. According to Ryabkov, it is based on the formula "we will stay if we want to and we will leave if we don’t want to stay." "However, I don’t rule out that in some cases, making additional agreements that require no ratification or reaching a certain political understanding may be the best option. We have experience in making such documents in various fields, which did work," he concluded.