Russia Gives 'Conditions' for Renewing US Nuclear Deal

Officials in Moscow played down prospects of a return to START, a nuclear non-proliferation agreement that saw the reduction of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles in recent years.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine over two years ago plunged relations with the U.S. into crisis, President Vladimir Putin suspended his country's participation in the last remaining treaty with Washington that limited nuclear arsenals—the New START treaty.

The latest comments from Moscow appear to pour cold water on the prospects of resumed cooperation between the world's two biggest nuclear superpowers.

On Friday, Vladimir Yermakov, Russia's head of the Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control at the Foreign Ministry, said that Moscow did not receive any "fundamentally new ideas" from the United States in terms of strategic stability and arms control.

"As for the fate of the START Treaty and the agreement to replace it, it is as pointless to talk about it at this stage as it is to assess prospects for resolving, through political and diplomatic means, any other problems that have accumulated in the area of strategic stability," Yermakov said in an interview with TASS, the state news agency.

"Washington should not be under any illusions about prospective new agreements in the field of arms control. We don't see this as a tragedy and are prepared for any scenario," he added.

The Russian official went on to outline Putin's "conditions" for the resumption of dialogue between the two sides on the issue.

One key precondition, according to the official, is "a preliminary rejection by the United States of the policy to undermine Russia's security."

Another was for Washington to show "genuine desire for comprehensive efforts focused on eliminating the root causes of the fundamental disagreements created by the Americans, which threaten a direct military clash between our countries."

During his annual address last year, Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START Treaty, insisting that Moscow was "not withdrawing from the agreement, no, but rather suspending its participation."

After this, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, called on Moscow to return to the implementation of the START Treaty, since this meets the interests of both countries.

Lavrov said in November 2023 that negotiations on this topic with Washington are "impossible" as long as it supports Kyiv.

On Thursday, April 11, Russia's TASS agency reported that Putin gave instructions to the government space corporation Roscosmos and Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation to allocate funds for the creation of space nuclear energy by June 15.

The announcement was made amid warnings by U.S. officials in February that Russia has the capability for an anti-satellite space-based weapon—which is not yet operational, officials stressed.