Washington accused of manipulating START data, says Ryabkov

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that Washington is manipulating data on strategic offensive weapons, while data on the arsenals of France and Great Britain are unconfirmed and illustrative.

Ryabkov, commenting on the statements of the G7 in the nuclear field, stressed that Russia is acting stably and responsibly, showing maximum transparency, within the limits determined by considerations of political and military interest, in nuclear issues, and over the past decade, Russia has significantly increased the level of transparency regarding doctrinal installations in the nuclear field, as well as the modernization of nuclear deterrence forces.

He said: “As for the attempts by Western countries to score political points on information about the size of their nuclear potential, then all this is frankly hypocritical. First, the reported figures are often fictitious or arbitrary. The U.S. strategic offensive arms data are still misleading because of their incompatibility with START rules, which Washington is stubbornly trying to circumvent through unscrupulous manipulation.”

Ryabkov noted that “beyond the brackets” still has great potential. The over 100 strategic offensive weapons to be covered by the treaty appear to be “very concerned” by US officials.

He added: “The data on the size of the arsenals of Britain and France cannot be verified in any way, and this is unconfirmed and purely illustrative data. You can publish anything. We remember very well how easy and indifferent the opinion of the international community was. Recently, the UK raised the quantitative ” ceiling “by more than a third for nuclear warheads.”

Ryabkov pointed out that one gets the impression that the West’s reasoning about the size of its nuclear arsenals has one goal – to exert psychological, military and political pressure on Russia and China, stressing that “it is obvious that there is a sick desire to discredit our country behind this.”

He added that the G7’s call to renew the First START Treaty and other steps in the nuclear sphere does not indicate a readiness to take into account NATO’s common capabilities.

He said: “Without this, it will not be possible to seriously discuss specific issues, as they say, it’s a pity, but such is life. In the West, I am sure, they will regret that they have deprived themselves of this opportunity. improve your security through dialogue and negotiations.”

Source: News

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