JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin says nuclear arms control talks hinge on U.S. goodwill” – AP

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

“The Kremlin said Tuesday … it’s ready for talks with the United States on nuclear arms control even as Moscow and Washington have remained locked in a tense standoff over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Commenting on … Biden’s statement that Washington is open for talks on a new arms control deal to replace the New START treaty after it expires […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Biden faces first foreign policy test with Russian balancing act; White House seeks arms control pact even as it warns of consequences for Navalny arrest” – Financial Times/ Katrina Manson, Henry Foy, Lauren Fedor

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“… the White House said … it wanted a straight extension of [New START for five years,] a nuclear arms control agreement … fac[ing] imminent expiry …. even as incoming officials have condemned … the Kremlin’s [reputedly] most aggressive anti-western actions in years. … U.S. security services [recently] uncovered a massive cyber-espionage attack on U.S. government computers … blamed on […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia ready for quick extension of last arms pact with U.S.” – AP

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

“… Lavrov said … Moscow is ready to move quickly to keep the pact alive. … New START envisages the possibility of its extension for another five years … [The Russian government] has said … Moscow is ready to do so without … conditions. … [or] to prolong the pact for a shorter term …. [T]alks … have been clouded […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Clock is Ticking on New START Extension” – Air Force Magazine/ Amy McCullough

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

“… New START … set to expire … Feb. 5, 2021 … limits each party to 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads and allows up to 700 of any combination of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and nuclear-capable bombers. It appeared a deal was on the horizon in October, with the Trump administration proposing to extend the treaty for one […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why Russia – and Putin – might be worried about a Biden presidency” – CNBC/ Holly Ellyatt

File Photo of Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in front of U.S. Flag and Russian Flag, adapted from image from RIA Novosti

“At the very least, analysts expect that a victory for Biden would increase tensions between Washington and Moscow, and would raise the probability of new sanctions on Russia. The country is already operating under international sanctions on some key sectors and Russian officials close to Putin, for actions including its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, interference in the […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: Chances to extend New START Treaty aren’t great, but they haven’t dried up yet” – Interfax

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

(Interfax – Aug. 18, 2020 – interfax.com/newsroom/exclusive-interviews/69585/) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has given an interview to Interfax correspondent Ksenia Baygarova, in which he speaks about the results of the second round of strategic stability consultations in Vienna, chances to extend the New START Treaty and comments on calls by the United States not to interfere in the situation […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Trump Administration Shifts Course on Russian Arms Talks, Easing Insistence China Join Now” – Wall Street Journal/ Michael R. Gordon

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“New strategy aims at a framework agreement with Russia, possible pre-election meeting with Putin.” “… the Trump administration signaled … that it will seek to negotiate a separate framework agreement with Moscow and move to bring Beijing on board later. … [which] could open the door for an election-year arms control understanding with Moscow — and possibly a meeting between […]

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Arms Control in the COVID-19 Era: No Next Step without New START

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

… another urgent existential threat is quietly growing in the background: the steady termination of nuclear arms control treaties between the United States and the Russian Federation and the absence of new arms control negotiations. ..

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U.S. Official: New START Treaty Should Cover Russian Weapon Systems Under Development

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

(Article text ©2020 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – March 10, 2020 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/us-official-new-start-treaty-should-cover-russian-weapons-systems-under-development/30479166.html) An extension of the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia should include new weapons systems that Moscow is developing, a U.S. State Department official said in a briefing on March 9. The New […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Moscow ready to discuss with U.S. different solutions to New START issue – Ryabkov” – Interfax

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

MOSCOW. Sept 12 (Interfax) – Russia is ready to discuss with the United States alternative solutions on the issue of prolonging the New START Treaty if Washington expresses its readiness to achieve them, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “We will continue working on getting the Americans to have a substantive discussion of these ideas, or to discuss some […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Bolton’s resignation increases chances of timely agreement on prolonging New START – Kosachyov” – Interfax

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) – The chances of timely agreements on renewing the New START treaty on strategic offensive arms have increased with the resignation of U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, Russian Federation Council International Affairs Committee head Konstantin Kosachyov said. “The hope for the New START’s renewal is still alive, and will be as long as it is […]

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RUSSIALINK: “It’s wrong to tie future of New START Treaty to situation around INF Treaty – Russian Foreign Ministry” – Interfax

Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry sees Washington’s attempts to tie the issue of preserving the New START Treaty to the situation surrounding the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty as a mistaken approach. “The Americans themselves both at the level of the executive branch of government and the level of the Congress have tied the prospect […]

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RUSSIALINK: “U.S. may rearm some strategic delivery vehicles reequipped under New START with up to 2,000 nuclear warheads – Ryabkov” – Interfax

Sergei Ryabkov file photo

MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) – The United States could potentially rearm some of its strategic delivery vehicles reequipped under the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (New START) with up to 2,000 nuclear warheads, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “One of the major issues we are continuing to discuss with the Americans, including within the framework of the Bilateral Consultative […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Trump, Putin May Agree to Resume Stalled Arms Control Talks” – Reuters

Russian Nuclear Submarine

“… When [Trump and Putin] meet in Helsinki … they are likely to touch on whether to extend the “New START” agreement to 2026 and what to do about … the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) …. Historically, arms control has been an area where Washington and Moscow have been able to talk to one another even when their broader […]

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NEWSWATCH: “White House Must Extend New START Arms Control Treaty with Russia; Statement by Lisbeth Gronlund, Global Security Program” – Union of Concerned Scientists

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“… New START – gives the United States and Russia until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550. It is set to expire in early 2021, but can be extended for another five years …. Trump suggested he would scrap it because he believed it favored Moscow. But … administration officials said last week that the White House […]

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With Fraying U.S.-Russian Ties Comes Fraying Arms Control

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

(WASHINGTON – July 11, 2017 – Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – also appeared at rferl.org/a/us-russia-fraying-ties-erode-arms-control/28611015.html) The U.S. Congress is moving decisively to start dismantling some of the bedrock agreements of U.S.-Russian arms control, reflecting the dangerous state of relations between Washington and Moscow and raising the specter of a new arms race. […]

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