US not ready to discuss nuclear disarmament with Russia

According to RIA Novosti on February 9, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said in an interview with RIA Novosti that the US is not ready to resume serious discussions with Russia on nuclear disarmament issues.

“In fact, there are no talks and it is impossible to resume a serious dialogue in the field of nuclear arms control, which was interrupted at the initiative of Washington. The American side is not ready for this. And in general, how can there be a normal dialogue between states when one of the parties does not consider the other as its equal? ​​Does not take into account its legitimate interests, especially in the field of security?” – said the permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations.

Instead, by all its actions, the United States wants to cause maximum damage to Russia in the military, financial, economic, political and other spheres, Mr. Gatilov added.

"They say: we will undermine your security and pretend nothing happened; and Russia, will help us do this by reducing our military potential through the signing of new legally binding agreements. It will not happen this way," the Russian permanent representative stressed.

Mr. Gatilov added that Russia has not yet seen any positive progress from the new US administration on disarmament issues.

"Of course, we are closely watching the rhetoric and the first steps of the representatives of the new US administration. We hope that the United States will move from words to actions, especially since they have been talking a lot since January 20. We are ready to maintain smooth cooperation with any US administration. Of course, we will be ready to do this within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament, after the US delegation to the forum receives the appropriate instructions from the White House and the appointed head. So far, we have not seen any positive developments on this issue in Geneva," Gatilov said.

Gatilov added that Russia proceeds from the fact that such dialogue at all “disarmament” forums in Geneva will be built on the basis of equality and mutual respect, taking into account the important role of Russia and the United States on a number of key issues on the global agenda, including strengthening strategic stability and international security.

The START-3 agreement between Russia and the United States is set to expire on February 5, 2026, and until recently there was no dialogue between Moscow and Washington on the prospects of extending it.