The suspension of Russia’s participation in the nuclear weapons treaty (START) is a bad sign, but Moscow’s compliance with the document’s provisions gives hope of avoiding a nuclear race. Kevin Ryan, a retired brigadier general and former military attaché at the US Embassy in Moscow, shared this opinion in an interview with Russian media.
According to Ryan, the fact that Russia has frozen the implementation of certain START provisions is a bad sign for the West. Thus, he believes, Russia can “make some moves in relation to its nuclear arsenal, for which the United States will not be ready”.
“But there are also good signs, because people like (Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey) Ryabkov and other close Putin (statesmen) claim that Russia will always provide some kind of reports (data) on this and will not exceed the limits specified by the treaty in the near future. This, in principle, is not a bad sign, which tells us that we can avoid a new arms race,” Ryan suggested.
The retired general said he was confident that the conversation between the intelligence services on the issue of nuclear arms control of the two countries is continuing. “So I’m optimistic about the future. <…> I think that when this treaty expires, a new one should naturally be concluded in order to limit the likelihood of strategic use of strategic nuclear weapons,” he added.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START, START-3) was signed by Russian and US Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama and entered into force on February 5, 2011. This agreement replaced the START-I Treaty, signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and George W. Bush shortly before the collapse of the USSR, in June 1991. In 2021, Moscow and Washington extended START-3 for the maximum possible five years, i.e. until 2026. On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was suspending its participation in the START treaty, stressing that there was no question of a complete withdrawal from the treaty.
However, at the moment, Ryan noted, it is “hardly” possible to imagine how Russia and the United States can resume negotiations on limiting nuclear arms. For this to be possible, the fighting in Ukraine must first be stopped and then the use of nuclear weapons in this conflict can be avoided, although this possibility cannot be completely ruled out, Ryan admitted.
On June 2, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States was prepared to adhere to the quantitative restrictions on strategic nuclear weapons outlined in START as long as Russia did. Suspension of participation in START, not withdrawal, Sullivan said, means Russia is prepared to maintain limits on strategic nuclear weapons through 2026. The White House adviser also added that the United States are ready to start working now “on nuclear risk management and a post-2026 arms control agreement”.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
