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ARCHIVE - The flag of Russia flies on the roof of the Russian embassy on Unter den Linden. Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa
Keystone
Russia has spoken out in favor of a rapid resumption of disarmament talks with the USA. "Of course we are interested in this negotiation process starting as soon as possible," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian news agency Interfax.
He complained that many arms control treaties had been terminated in recent years. According to him, the USA was to blame in each case.
Nuclear disarmament is in the interests of the whole world and all nations, emphasized Peskov. Russia was interested in this, but the ball was now in the USA's court. In such negotiations, however, not only the nuclear potential of the Russians and Americans, but also that of the French and British must be taken into account, he demanded. However, he said nothing about the participation of China, a nuclear power friendly to Russia, in future disarmament talks.
Withdrawal from several disarmament treaties
In recent years, there have been changes and withdrawals from several disarmament treaties. In 2019, under then President Donald Trump, the USA withdrew from the INF Treaty on the renunciation of land-based short- and medium-range nuclear missiles. Washington justified the move by stating that Russia had developed a new land-based medium-range cruise missile system and was equipping its armed forces with it.
In 2020, the USA also announced under Trump that it would withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty on international military observation flights. Russia then also announced its withdrawal.
In 2022, Putin completed Russia's withdrawal from the Treaty on the Disarmament of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and suspended the last major nuclear disarmament treaty, New Start, with the USA.
Kremlin: interest in negotiations on Ukraine
At the same time, the Kremlin once again made it clear that it was also interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine with Trump. However, lowering oil prices - as Trump had previously suggested - would not make Russia give in. "This conflict does not depend on the price of oil", rather it is about Russia's national security and the security of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, said Peskov. Moscow has been waging a brutal war of aggression under this pretext for almost three years now and has annexed large parts of neighboring Ukraine.
24.01.2025, 13:27
