SAN FRANSISCO, Oct 7:Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has called for the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), reiterating Russia’s concerns about strategic stability.
“It is very simple to extend the agreement, as is. If the United States, like Russia, has its own concerns about other issues of strategic stability, it is time to get together and tackle these issues. We are ready, we are still waiting for a positive response from the American side,” Antonov said at the Fort Ross Dialogue forum on Sunday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed in September that Russia believed that the new START treaty must be extended to maintain at least some kind of a mechanism in the field of strategic stability.
“Today there is only one agreement between the US and Russia the START treaty. And in February 2021 there will be nothing left. And that will be for the first time in 50 years,” Antonov pointed out on Sunday.
The New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the United States, which left the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in August.
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