MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. The US currently lacks the capability to create modern weapons similar to Russia's, former US intelligence officer and ex-UN inspector Scott Ritter told TASS in an interview.
"The Oreshnik missile is one of the most dangerous things that's happened in modern times. For the first time in history, a nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile was used in combat. <…> That changes everything. But from an American perspective, we have nothing similar to that. Our weapons are old. We're modernizing a 30-year-old missile to extend it to 2050 because we can't afford the Sentinel missile. We can't afford building new B-21 bombers, so we're going to refurbish 50-year-old B-52 bombers," he said.
According to the expert, a misunderstanding between Russia and the US on the issue of arms control could lead to a dangerous escalation. "Russia has always been the mature party here. It wasn't Russia that left the ABM Treaty. It wasn't Russia that left the INF Treaty. And it wasn't Russia that caused New START to expire. But now Russia has to adjust its actions based upon the performance of the United States. And as it makes these adjustments, we move closer to war. We also deal with, when we don't coordinate with each other, when we don't communicate, when we don't talk, it can lead to misunderstandings," the analyst explained.
Ritter also pointed to factors complicating the implementation of Russia's proposal to extend quantitative restrictions under New START. "There were conditions attached to that. It wasn't an open proposition. Russia would be willing to have a one-year moratorium, but would have to take into account things that were destabilizing, such as if we, the United States deployed Dark Eagle intermediate-range missiles to Europe, which we're planning to do next year, if the United States began to implement the Golden Dome ballistic missile defense shield, nuclear weapons testing things of this nature. In that case, Russia would have to take the appropriate actions," the expert concluded.
On September 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at a Security Council meeting that Moscow is ready to adhere to the treaty's quantitative restrictions for an additional year after New START expires in February. However, he emphasized that this measure is only viable if Washington acts in a similar manner. There has been no response from the US yet.