PEJOURNAL – Talks between Russia and the United States on strategic stability ended in Vienna on Monday. The talks were led by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and led by Marshall Billingslia, the new US arms control envoy. The consultation lasted about ten hours.
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “According to the instructions of the presidents of the two countries, the discussion on the prospect of arms control continued. This includes extending the start-up treaty and maintaining stability in the wake of the end of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as a comprehensive comprehensive dialogue on resolving international security issues.”
While Moscow has questioned the agreement, Moscow insists on extending it. US President Donald Trump has worked hard to get China involved in the talks, but Beijing has rejected the request. Many experts are pessimistic about the success of the talks. Prior to the talks, the United States said it had no objection to extending the agreement, but that the main condition was that Russia and China be obliged to control their weapons. China opposes tripartite talks, saying the United States and Russia have more than 90 percent of their nuclear weapons, and China in terms of nuclear weapons statistics; is very far from these two countries.
With the signing of the New Start Treaty (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) signed in 2010 between then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and then-President Barack Obama, the two countries pledged to increase the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers to 800, and reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 1550. The agreement is currently the only arms control between the two countries, which is still in force.