US Position On New START Treaty's Prolongation Still Unclear As Expiration Looms - Ryabkov

Washington's position on possibly prolonging the US-Russian Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is still unclear, despite the fact that time before the treaty ultimately expires in 2021 is running out, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) Washington's position on possibly prolonging the US-Russian Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is still unclear, despite the fact that time before the treaty ultimately expires in 2021 is running out, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.

"The agreement envisages the possibility of its expansion for five more years. Then why don't we use this possibility? The Russian president has already mentioned it publicly, when he was in Johannesburg [at the summit of BRICS states], [US President] Donald Trump has mentioned it as well in Helsinki [during the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin]. We can't say for sure why, but, unfortunately, there is no response. Perhaps, the US position has not been articulated completely yet, perhaps, they are looking for a more favorable moment for articulating this position due to some circumstances, perhaps, they don't have a properly organized team that could address this.

But time passes. It seems that 2021 is far away, but it's not true. It's almost at hand," Ryabkov told the International Affairs newspaper.

Under New START, which came into effect in 2011, both the United States and Russia agreed to arms reduction objectives including reducing the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, nuclear armed bombers and nuclear warheads.

In late July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that Washington had no position with regard to extending the treaty beyond 2021.