For the first time since the signing of the new START Treaty, Russia and the USA have made public their claims to each other in the field of disarmament. Responding to Washington’s reproaches, Moscow stressed that it rules out any return to the Cold War times.
Russia also says that instead of intensifying mutual claims, it would be good for the two countries to unite their efforts in promoting greater transparency in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and control of arms control.
It all started when the White House released a report, compiled by experts, who, without producing any facts, put Russia on the list of violators of the non-proliferation regime. In response to the Americans’ groundless claims, Russia’s foreign ministry has enumerated its claims on 11 pages. Russian experts have discovered many differences between what was agreed upon and what America is doing in reality.
Moscow voiced its disapproval over the fact that it was not informed in due time about the flight tests of the US submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). Russia’s Foreign Ministry also mentions the fact that the USA violated a number of radiation safety measures and the rules for keeping radio-active materials. On Russia’s list of claims are also continued supplies by the US enterprises of the products, which have something to do with missile technologies and relevant know-how to foreign countries. About one-third of them are not members of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), including Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Taiwan.
The US attack and the Russian counterattack have made a number of experts to call into question that the ratification of the new START Pact will occur any time soon. Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of the Moscow Institute of the US and Canada Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Pavel Zolotaryov believes that the exchange of compliments is bringing this date closer:
"As it appears, the current situation has something to do with the ratification of the START-2 Pact. The U.S. State Department wants to create a favourable climate in the Congress and to show that the U.S. remains committed to both the implementation and control of the former START Pact. Likewise, the USA is upholding national interests in the new treaty too. All this is being done to pull the rug from under the feet of the Republicans, who demonstrate aggression to both Russia and the new treaty.
Russia’s response is also quite natural. On the one hand, it is necessary to cut down the USA to size, because certain violations did take place. This is clear. At the same time, there’re many enemies of the START-2 ratification in the State Duma too. And probably, it’s very important for the diplomats to show other deputies that Moscow sticks to its stand and has no plans to make concessions to Washington. On the whole, though it seems to be a paradox, statements, made by the two sides promote the creation of a favourable atmosphere for the START-2 ratification."
One year and a half the reset relations policy has been in action have shown that Russia and the USA have been learning not only to listen to each other but also to hear each other.
And a start to this process was given by Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama, who told the diplomats that there’s no need to shelve acute problems. It’s much better for the two sides to openly voice their claims to each other, if any, in order to search together for solutions to the existing problems. Therefore, the probability that the “exchange of compliments” may hamper the START-2 ratification is very small.
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