America has given up on arms control & withdrawn from treaties to try to achieve ‘global supremacy’ – Russian Defense Ministry

A senior Russian official has accused Washington of changing its priorities, rejecting stability, and attempting to gain supremacy – in particular, of leaving arms control agreements so it can build up its military potential.

Speaking to Moscow’s newspaper of record, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin expressed the hope that the US would change its stance once President-elect Joe Biden took office in January.

“The United States has been pushing ahead with a policy aimed at building up its military power for a long time,” Fomin said. “Under far-fetched pretexts, the American side renounces its arms control treaty obligations that prevent the achievement of global dominance.”

On February 5, 2021, the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and Russia is due to expire, with President Donald Trump believing its terms to be unfair on Washington and therefore not renewing it. America’s reluctance to extend the agreement is the latest in a series of deals to which the White House has put an end.

In particular, Fomin noted the US’ withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. The Kremlin supported both treaties, and continues to push for arms control between the two superpowers. On pulling out of the INF, Washington accused Russia of violating the agreement, arguing that Russia’s 9M729 missile broke the rules.

Now the US is no longer part of the INF, Russia has asked NATO to agree with Russia not to deploy intermediate- and short-range missiles, with the threat that it will take “adequate response measures” if the Western military bloc doesn’t accept.

With regard to New START, which has less than six weeks left to run, Fomin noted how Russia has repeatedly asked the US to extend the treaty in order to start working on a new agreement, taking into account the concerns of both Washington and Moscow.

“As I’ve already said, the American side has other priorities, and therefore they don’t show any interest in extending the START Treaty.”

Incoming President-elect Biden has voiced his support for New START and criticized the current incumbent for pulling out of the deal. Once he is inaugurated on January 20, he would have two weeks to agree to an extension with the Kremlin.

“Due to the current political situation in the United States, we can’t exclude the possibility that the American position on this issue may change,” Fomin concluded.

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