Russia interested in preventing arms race: Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia is open to discussing solutions aimed at preventing an arms race while strengthening international security and stability, the Russian foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
"This fully applies to any potential agreements in the nuclear missile sphere," the ministry said in a statement before Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's participation in a session of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday and Thursday.
It said that the extension of the Russia-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which will expire in 2021, will be in the interests not only of Russia but also of the entire world community.
One outstanding problem is the hundreds of strategic offensive weapons, which Washington claims do not contradict the treaty, the statement said.
Washington instead claims Russia's 9M729 missile systems violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, it added.
If Washington maintains its current position, the INF Treaty will come to an end on Aug. 2, which may lead to a new arms race in several regions and further erosion of the arms control system and have an impact on the prospects for further nuclear disarmament, the statement said.
The deployment of global U.S. missile defense remains a significant destructive factor detrimental to international security and strategic stability, which can cause a dangerous spiral of missile weapons buildup, it added.
With the United States actively developing new medium-range missile systems, Russia is forced to prepare for their potential deployment, the ministry warned.
It said that Russia is interested in avoiding new missile crises in Europe and other regions and declared a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium-range and shorter-range missiles in Europe, if Washington does not deploy similar systems.
"We expect that a responsible approach to ensuring European security will prevail in Washington and other NATO capitals," the ministry said.
