Former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev
–
–
The “strictest control” on a reciprocal basis should be a key factor in this, the former Soviet leader said.
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty between Russia and the United States on the reduction of strategic offensive arms (START-1) called on Moscow and Washington to continue working in this direction.
“We must go forward and forward, and I never tire of calling both Russia and the United States for this,” he said in an interview with Interfax on July 31.
Gorbachev believes that the signing of the START III treaty, concerning the further reduction of strategic offensive arms, was an important step for the start of negotiations between the two countries on strategic stability.
At the same time, the politician noted that “it would be better if it was said more specifically:” on strategic stability and further reduction of nuclear weapons. “
At the same time, “the strictest control” on a reciprocal basis should become a key factor on the path to resolving the problem of mutual nuclear disarmament, Gorbachev said.
There is a new round of the nuclear race in the world. What to expect
Commenting on the prospects for joining the talks on the reduction of strategic offensive arms of other nuclear powers, primarily China, Gorbachev noted that this can be done “only if Russia and the United States begin to agree on lower levels of nuclear weapons.”
START III was signed by Moscow and Washington in 2010. Today, according to the report of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the stocks of nuclear weapons of the Russian Federation and the United States are within the limits established by this document.
The agreement provides for the reduction of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 units, ICBMs, submarine ballistic missiles and heavy bombers to 700 units, and deployed and non-deployed launchers to 800 units.
In addition, the treaty obliges the parties to exchange information on the number of warheads and delivery vehicles. Washington and Moscow in February extended the contract by 5 years just days before its expiration.
START I was signed on July 31, 1991 in Moscow by the then presidents of the United States and the USSR – George W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev – and entered into force in December 1994.
Earlier, participants in the Kerber Initiative for Strategic Stability, a joint project of the Kerber Foundation and the Institute for Peace and Security Policy Studies at the University of Hamburg, published an article in which they talked about measures to prevent a new nuclear race.
News from Correspondent.net in Telegram. Subscribe to our channel https://t.me/korrespondentnet
– .
