Biden plans renewed nuclear talks withRussia, adviser says
President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming national security adviser said Sunday that the new administration would move quickly to renew the last remaining majornuclear armstreaty withRussia, even while seeking to make President Vladimir Putin pay for what appeared to be the largest-ever hacking of United States governmentnetworks.
In an interview on “GPS” on CNN, Jake Sullivan, who at 44 will become the youngest national security adviser in more than a half century, also said that as soon as Iran reentered compliance with the2015nucleardeal— which he helped negotiate under President Barack Obama — therewould be a “follow-on negotiation” over its missile capabilities.
“In that broader negotiation, we can ultimately secure limits on Iran’s ballisticmissile technology,” Sullivan said, “and that iswhat we intend to try to pursue through diplomacy.”
He did not mention that missileswere not covered in the previous accord because the Iranians refused to commit to any limitations on their development or testing. To bridge the impasse,
the United Nations passed aweaklyworded resolution that calledonTehrantoshow restraint; the Iranians say it is not binding, and they have ignored it.
Taken together, Sullivan’s two statements indicated howquickly the newadministrationwould be immersed in two complex arms control issues, even as Biden seeks to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and the economic shocks it has caused. But the first issue to arise, renewing theNewSTART, willbemade more complex because of Biden’s vow to assure that Moscow pays for the hacking of more than 250 U.S.
government and private networks, an intrusion that now appears far more extensive than first thought.
Biden has said that after the government formally determineswho was responsible for the attack, “we will respond, and probably respond in kind.” But that means moving to punishRussiawhile keepingNew START— a remnantof the era when nuclear rather than cyberwasthedominantissue between the two countries — from lapsing and setting off a new arms race.
Sullivan cited arms control as one of the few areas whereMoscowand the new administration could cooperate. Extending the treaty, whichwould not require Senate action, would be the first test ofwhether that cooperation is possible.
President Donald Trump, who withdrewfrom several other treaties with Russia over the past four years, had initially insisted that China also join the bilateral agreement, or the United States would not renew it when it expires Feb. 5. He later backed away fromthat demand. But in the weeks before the election, negotiations over extending the agreement lost momentum, either because of new U.S. demandsor because theRussians concluded that Trump was likely to lose.
“We will have to look at extending that treaty in the interest of theUnitedStates,” Sullivan said.
Conversations four years ago between the Russian ambassador to the United States and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, led to the initial investigations of the administration’s dealings with Russia. Biden’s team said it was scrupulously avoiding contact with foreigners on any issue of significance until the afternoon of Jan. 20.