Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia considers US statements about the “illegality” of Moscow’s suspension of participation in the START Treaty “invalid.”
“We consider such stuffing as part of Washington’s current political propaganda campaign, which is aimed at forcing Russia to return to the START treaty and preserve the US’s ability to see our strategic arsenal … if the US is really interested in the resumption of the START and in general,” Ryabkov said. . He must first of all give up empty illusions about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia and recognize that there is no alternative to taking into account Russian interests in the field of security.
Ryabkov stressed that Russia has repeatedly provided all the necessary legal justifications in full detail, noting that, for a combination of reasons, the Russian side came to the conclusion that Washington had materially violated the START Treaty, and according to the Vienna Convention on the Treaties Act of 1969, the effect of the START Treaty was put on hold, adding: “The concoctions of US State Department lawyers who simply ignore reality cannot change factual reality. Status quo”.
The US State Department said in a statement that the country considers Moscow’s suspension of its participation in the New START treaty to limit nuclear weapons “legally wrong” and that Russia remains bound by the terms of the agreement. .
Source: TASS