In an interview on December 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the plots of Western countries are the main reason for the world's chaos.
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| Russia believes that Britain and France need to join any subsequent New START Treaty. (Source: Shuterstock) |
TASS news agency quoted Mr. Lavrov as warning that no one in the world can be sure of escaping such plots unscathed by 2024.
The head of Russian diplomacy stated: "The storm continues to rage in the world and one of the reasons is that Western officials create crises thousands of kilometers from their borders to solve their own problems at the expense of other peoples...".
Meanwhile, on the same day, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna (Austria) Mikhail Ulyanov said that France and the United Kingdom must be part of any next New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), because their nuclear arsenals cannot be ignored.
"The future New START agreement should include France and Britain. They are US military allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, of course, we cannot ignore their nuclear potential," Mr. Ulyanov stressed.
Russian officials also said that the country would not seek or force China's participation in the New START successor treaty as the United States is doing, but would not object if Beijing decided to join.
The United States and Russia signed the New START Treaty in 2010. Under the agreement, the two sides are responsible for exchanging comprehensive data, including the number and characteristics of weapons systems, every six months.
In late February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law suspending participation in the New START Treaty, but not withdrawing from the treaty.
He stressed that before returning to the discussion on the issue of continued compliance with the treaty, Russia needs to know how the New START Treaty will take into account the arsenals not only of the United States but also of other NATO nuclear powers, Britain and France.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has repeatedly expressed its hope for constructive cooperation with Russia to fully implement the New START Treaty, aimed at reducing the risk of strategic weapons attack.
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