Russia says no 'basis' for holding arms control talks with US

Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated that there is currently “no basis” for holding an arms control and strategic stability dialogue with the U.S. amid the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv.

“There is no basis whatsoever for an arms control and strategic stability dialogue with the United States in the face of a total hybrid war being waged against our country … It will be possible to discuss these topics only after the US authorities renounce their openly hostile anti-Russian policy,” Lavrov said in a video address to the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference.

Russia-US conflict should be 'comprehensive in nature'

Lavrov emphasized that efforts to reduce the potential conflict between Russia and the U.S. should be “comprehensive in nature” and based on removing NATO’s eastward expansion.

He further expressed that the West is balancing on the “dangerous edge” of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers.

This indicates that Moscow is especially concerned that the three nuclear powers in the West are among Ukraine’s prominent supporters.

“The US-led ‘collective West’ is cynically complementing the deliberate destruction of balanced and equal agreements that do not suit Washington with the promotion of apparently dishonest schemes that would create advantages for the United States,” Lavrov added.

He argued that the West’s goal is to create a “unilateral military advantage for themselves by setting new limits for nuclear arsenals while formalizing the aggregate Western superiority in the sphere of non-nuclear capabilities,” adding that the U.S. and its allies are enlarging their network of alliances “directed against third countries,” to achieve military superiority.

Lavrov said that Russia’s move to revoke the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty last year was a “logical response to the destructive moves by the U.S. and other Western countries.”

“We remain a full-fledged party to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Not so long ago, we completed the formation of our segment of the International Monitoring System. We are ready to return to its ratification as soon as the US does this,” he said.

West tailors the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to their interest

The Russian foreign minister also accused Western countries of “tailoring” the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to their interests.

“We are convinced that to prevent further degradation of the world situation, maintain durable stability, and create realistic disarmament, all countries should pool their efforts to upgrade the international security system relying on multilateralism, equality and indivisibility principles. This is the only way of reducing interstate conflicts and ensuring real progress in arms control,” he concluded.

Source: Newsroom