Russia Wants To Carry Offensive-Defensive Arms Link Over Into Future Pacts - Ryabkov

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2021) Russia wants any future arms deal with the United States to recognize the existence of the interrelationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons enshrined in the extended New START treaty, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday.

"We are talking about the entire spectrum of offensive and defensive nuclear and non-nuclear weapons capable of carrying out strategic tasks � in essence of a strategic range... We mean relevant missile defense capabilities," he told a news conference.

Ryabkov added that Russia would never abandon and saw no alternative to the principle, which acknowledges that a strategic missile defense system deployed by one party could have an impact on the other party's strategic offensive capabilities.

The last agreement limiting the US and Russia's strategic nuclear stockpiles was extended two days before it was due to expire on February 5. It will remain in place until February 2026, while the two countries negotiate a new "security equation."