U.S., Russia shooting blanks
WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia appeared no closer Tuesday to settling their disagreements on nuclear arms control as Moscow again proposed extending their New START treaty and Washington insisted China must be brought into the framework.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov largely stuck to their existing positions as they described talks that ranged from alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections to the wars in Ukraine and Syria, North Korea’s nuclear program and improving economic ties.
At a joint news conference, Pompeo said the U.S. believed other parties, such as China, needed to be brought in to a wider arms control discussion, and he said he would consider a Russian proposal to include nuclear powers Britain and France.
“There is real risk that there is a reduction in strategic stability just staying right where we are,” Pompeo said, arguing that delivery systems have evolved beyond the missiles, bombers and submarines covered by the New START treaty signed in 2010.
“Not only do the conversations need to be broadened to include the Chinese Communist Party, but they need to be broadened as well to encompass the full range of instruments of power ... ”
Lavrov repeated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to extend New START, which requires both nations to cut their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550. The treaty expires in February 2021 but can be extended for up to five years by mutual consent. “The ball is in our American partners’ court,” Lavrov said before going to the White House to see President Donald Trump.