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Russia is ready to freeze all its nuclear warheads

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MOSCOWRussia ready to freeze its entire nuclear warhead if United States (US) do the same to extend nuclear weapons control agreement their last for a year.

The offer appears to have narrowed the differences between the two sides regarding fate New START agreement which ends in February. This offer also comes two weeks before the US presidential election.

The US last week rejected Russia’s offer to extend the pact unconditionally by one year, saying that any proposal that does not consider freezing all nuclear warheads is “non-starter”.(Also read: US Rejects Putin’s Proposal on the Extension of the New START Agreement)

But a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday (20/10/2020) suggests that the positions of the two countries have grown closer.

Russia is proposing to extend New START by one year and is ready to join forces with the United States to make a political commitment to ‘freeze’ the number of nuclear warheads held by the parties for this period,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said a warhead freeze and a one-year extension would be possible if Washington did not make additional demands. It said the extension would give the two sides time to discuss nuclear weapons control in more depth.

The New START agreement, signed in 2010, imposes limits on the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenal.

Expanding it will mark a rare bright spot in relations between the two countries. Failure to do so will remove the main pillars that maintain the nuclear balance between them and add another element of tension.

Moscow and Washington have been at odds over the agreement despite several months of talks. The United States has asked China to be included in a broader agreement that will replace New START. But China has flatly rejected the proposal.(Also read: China Rejects US Call To Discuss Nuclear Weapons Control)

Last year the US withdrew from a Cold War-era arms control pact that prohibited the launch of conventional and nuclear ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500-5,500 km, arguing Russia had committed violations Moscow denied.(Watch video: Before Evening, Demonstrators Burn Tires at Horse Statues)

(ber)

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