The head of the Strategic Command (STRATCOM) of the US Armed Forces, Admiral Charles Richard, assessed the significance of the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START, unofficially called START-3). His words are conveyed by TASS .
“This is a must-have attribute if you aspire to be a great power,” said Richard. He called the treaty the most recent example of relations between Russia and the United States, designed to ensure openness and understanding of each other’s motives regarding strategic forces.
At the same time, the admiral did not specify whether the countries resumed inspections under the missile treaty. He recalled that US State Department are dealing with this issue. “We welcome and fully support inspections when they are carried out,” added Richard.
December 24, the special representative of the American president Donald Trump for arms control Marshall Billingsley said that the US is not interested in extending START. The politician called the missile treaty between Washington and Moscow a bad deal and explained that it was because of this that START “had a hard time in the Senate.”
On October 16, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin suggested Washington to extend the current START- 3 “without any conditions, at least for a year, in order to be able to conduct meaningful negotiations on all parameters.” Assistant to the US President for National Security Robert O’Brien called this initiative a failure .
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in 2010 by the presidents of Russia and the United States – Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama . The agreement came into force in 2011 and expires in February 2021.