Talks between Russia and the US on reduction of strategic nuclear
weapons must include defense systems, like global ballistic missile
defense, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “The strategic missile defense systems affects strategic
stability. It has been and will be affected, at least in the
foreseeable future by Americans’ plans to create non-nuclear
strategic weapons that would possibly be more humane than nuclear
bombs, as they would lack the radiation effect, but that would
far surpass the existing strategic nuclear weapons by their
combat effectiveness”, Lavrov said in an interview with the
Rossiya-24 news channel. The minister said that Russia suggests holding talks on strategic
stability as a whole and to consider all factors that could
affect this process.
He says Russia's stance is that future cuts must be discussed not
in the bilateral Russia-US talks but together with other nations
that possess nuclear weapons.
The Foreign Minister said that even without its European elements
the planned US ballistic missile defense remains a global system
laid on the Russian border and that Russian concerns over the
process remain. “Americans have decided to scrap the fourth stage of their
missile defense deployment in Europe and to compensate by placing
additional interceptors in Alaska. They also plan to set up one
more defense position on the East Coast. We have analyzed this as
a whole and this cannot remove our concerns because the system
remains global and the deployment of its components is planned
and actually takes place on our borders,” Lavrov explained. At the same time he said that Russia was positive about US
suggestions of greater transparency of the missile defense plans. The minister reiterated Russia’s position that all attempts to
shift the strategic balance would not be left unanswered. Lavrov’s interview confirmed and detailed Russia’s stance on
President Barack Obama’s suggestion to cut US and Russian nuclear
arsenals by one third, voiced during Wednesday's speech in
Berlin. Earlier, President Putin’s top aide said that Russia was ready to
discuss the nuclear cuts with the United States only if other
nuclear states also take part in the process. President Putin himself said in a speech on Wednesday that
concerns remained both over the anti-missile shields deployed by
the United States and NATO, adding that the development of
high-precision non-nuclear weapons could upset the strategic
balance. “We cannot afford to disrupt the balance of the system of
strategic deterrence, to reduce effectiveness of its nuclear
forces. Therefore, the development of the system of space defense
will remain a key direction for the military industry,” Putin
said.
