Russia rejects US accusations, says its compliance with New START is "beyond reproach"

Moscow accuses Washington of "hiding" its biological research programs in Ukraine

MADRID, 1 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Russian authorities have rejected the US accusations of alleged breaches of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and stress that its compliance with it is "irreproachable".

"It is remarkable how quickly this annual report has been prepared. Its previous versions did not contain sensational accusations, they were usually published in April or even later," said the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoli Antonov.

Thus, he has highlighted that the Joe Biden Administration "clearly wanted to launch another battery of unfounded accusations in the area of ​​arms control" in the context of a "frantic confrontation with Russia, initiated by the West."

"Our respect for the New START has been reprehensible during all these years, unlike Washington, whose conscience weighs the illegitimate withdrawal of more than a hundred strategic weapons from the monitoring system under the treaty," he explained.

In this sense, Antonov stressed that "these actions affect the central limits of the New START and undermine the key objective of the agreement, which is to maintain the balance of the parties' strategic offensive weapons," according to a statement published by the Russian Embassy. in United States.

The ambassador has also argued that, regarding the accusations about the temporary exemption of Russian strategic facilities from the bilateral consultation commission, "they follow the traditional pattern of the United States." "Washington refuses to see the causes of the problem and blames others," he lamented.

"We have repeatedly told the (US) Administration that the New START situation is a direct result of the hybrid war launched by the West against our country. We have warned that arms control cannot be isolated from geopolitical realities." , has manifested.

For this reason, he has emphasized that "in the current circumstances" Russia "considers it unjustified, inappropriate and inappropriate to invite the US Army" to make visits to Russian "strategic installations".

"Russia remains committed to the objectives of the New START and continues to consider it a useful tool to maintain strategic stability and guarantee predictability in relations between the major nuclear powers," he said, before stressing that "responsibility for the uptick in tensions over New START rests entirely on Washington."

"There can be no progress on arms control if the United States does not reconsider its policy of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia," he argued, while accusing Washington of "hiding" its biological research programs in Ukraine.

In this way, he has reported that "Americans contradict themselves" and has questioned that "if such a program were totally peaceful, why limit their work so quickly?" "Why are these issues handled by the Army and not by civilian specialists?" she has asked.

"The answer is obvious. Washington had and has something to hide," said Antonov, who has stated that the end of these activities in Ukraine is due to the fact that the United States "did everything possible to ensure that the results of its investigation did not fell into the hands of the Russian Army".

Antonov's remarks come after the US State Department accused Russia of breaching New START by refusing to allow inspectors on its territories and hindering Washington's efforts to address the issue.

Washington and Moscow extended the New START in 2021 for a period of five years, thus giving both nations sufficient margin to engage in new talks on strategic security, according to the Bloomberg agency.

In 2020, the inspections had to be halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, when the conditions were met again to resume said activity, Russia has refused since August last year to resume such visits, in part, due to tensions. between the two powers over the war in Ukraine.

This treaty between the United States and Russia seeks to limit the deployment of intercontinental nuclear weapons by both parties, allowing frequent checks of each country's programs by the other. The agreement allows Washington and Moscow to deploy up to 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 1,550 nuclear warheads on those missiles.