Russia says it is prepared for a new reality in which there are no U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control limits once the New START treaty expires this week, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Unless Moscow and Washington reach a last-minute understanding, the two countries will be left without any constraints on their long-range strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years when the treaty expires on Thursday.
“This is a new moment, a new reality - we are ready for it,” Ryabkov, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies during a visit to Beijing for what he described as “strategic stability consultations”.
New START, signed in 2010, caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated last month that he would allow the treaty to expire, though he has not formally responded to a Russian proposal to continue observing the missile and warhead limits for one more year.
“The lack of an answer is also an answer,” Ryabkov said.
Arms control supporters in both Russia and the United States warn that the expiry would remove limits on warheads, weaken verification and undermine trust, increasing the risk of a renewed nuclear arms race.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who signed the treaty with then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, urged the U.S. Congress to intervene, warning that allowing the pact to lapse would “wipe out decades of diplomacy” and make the world less safe.
Medvedev said the world should be alarmed if the treaty expires without any understanding of what comes next, suggesting it would accelerate movement of the so-called “Doomsday Clock”.
Ryabkov also said Russia would take military measures if the United States deployed missile defence systems in Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO-member Denmark.
The web of nuclear arms control agreements built after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis has gradually unravelled in recent years, amid worsening relations between Moscow and the West over Ukraine and growing U.S. concern about China’s nuclear arsenal.
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The UN's International Maritime Organization has paused escort operations through the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship was reportedly attacked near Oman, with two U.S. officials accusing Iran of the attack.
The United Nations' top human rights official has called for independent investigations into deaths in U.S. immigration detention facilities, citing a rise in fatalities among people held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. At least 589 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds are believed to be trapped under rubble, as emergency crews and international rescue teams race to respond.
An aircraft roughly the size of a car crashed into Beijing's tallest skyscraper on Friday evening, triggering a major emergency response and a heavy police presence as authorities sealed off the area and gave no immediate explanation for the incident.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
As Western Europe battles a deadly heatwave that has shattered temperature records, disrupted transport and power supplies, and forced the closure of schools and cultural landmarks, attention is turning to whether El Niño is playing a role in the extreme conditions.
The U.S. Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress formally authorised military action.
The Kremlin has denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming Moscow is pressuring Belarus to support an expanded Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. At least 589 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds are believed to be trapped under rubble, as emergency crews and international rescue teams race to respond.
The United Nations' top human rights official has called for independent investigations into deaths in U.S. immigration detention facilities, citing a rise in fatalities among people held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An aircraft roughly the size of a car crashed into Beijing's tallest skyscraper on Friday evening, triggering a major emergency response and a heavy police presence as authorities sealed off the area and gave no immediate explanation for the incident.
Montenegrin police, working alongside the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, have arrested an Iranian national accused of carrying out a series of cyberattacks that allegedly caused an estimated $3.4 billion in damage to U.S. infrastructure.
South Korea is set to dramatically expand its unmanned warfare capabilities, with plans to integrate drones across all branches of its military as tensions with North Korea continue to shape the country's defence strategy.
Fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have begun to recover following an interim U.S.–Iran agreement aimed at stabilising the waterway after months of disruption during conflict, industry data shows.
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