Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov says when Moscow speaks about such risks, its remarks are twisted for propaganda purposes
\n MOSCOW\/GENEVA
\nThe Russian deputy foreign minister on Thursday said the US and NATO\u2019s increasing involvement in the conflict in Ukraine could result in a direct military clash of nuclear powers \u201cwith disastrous consequences.\u201d
\nWhen Moscow speaks about such risks, its remarks are twisted for propaganda purposes, Sergey Ryabkov said in his address at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
\nRyabkov said he spoke in place of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who could not take part in the conference because of EU sanctions against him.
\n\u201cWe view this as an attempt of EU countries to evade an honest dialogue intended to facilitate the long-term improvement of global security and stability including by freeing the world from the burden of WMD-related threats,\u201d he said.
\nRyabkov said the US and NATO\u2019s \u201cdestructive steps\u201d led to problems in international arms control architecture, which is based on four major treaties — Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which the US left in 2002, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which Washington withdrew in 2019 and the Open Skies Treaty, from which the US withdrew in 2020.
\nAccording to him, Russia suspended its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New Start) after US attempts \u201cto probe\u201d the security of Russian strategic facilities declared under the pact by organizing Ukraine\u2019s attacks on them.
\nThe diplomat urged to address the situation and create an updated international security architecture, starting from dialogue on working out such options of equal and indivisible security that would ensure minimizing the accumulated conflict potential.
\nRyabkov also voiced concern over the US and NATO activities in Asia-Pacific, warning that such actions may lead to \u201cserious shocks\u201d in the region.
\nRussia\u2019s concerns over US activities
\nThe official also criticized the US and NATO\u2019s space programs, noting that Russia insists on drafting a multilateral legally binding instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space.
\n\u201cThe ineffective measures proposed by Western countries within the framework of the concept of so-called responsible behavior in space are not able to solve the main task — to preserve outer space as a common security zone free from armed confrontation.
\n\u201cOn the contrary, they are conceived as a veil for the accelerated creation of a combat space potential and its application,\u201d he said.
\nRyabkov named two more reasons for concern — the US military\u2019s alleged biological activities in Ukraine, and the situation with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), saying it has not entered into force due to the US.
\nAccording to him, such actions show Washington\u2019s \u201cobvious disposition to resume nuclear tests.\u201d
\nHe added that Russia is ready to contribute to the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
\nRyabkov also recalled that The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) remains the foundation of the global architecture of international security, and there is no reason to talk about its crisis.
\nRussia will not be 1st to test nukes
\nRussia will not be the first to test a nuclear device, Ryabkov told journalists after his address.
\n\u201cWe are not going to be the first to test a nuclear device,\u201d Ryabkov told a press conference hosted by the UN journalists association (ACANU) at the Russian Mission in Geneva.
\n\u201cRussia ratified the CTBT in 2000, which was preceded by a lengthy moratorium on nuclear testing,\u201d said Ryabkov, referring to the treaty that has not been ratified by China, India, Israel, Iran, and the US.
\n\u201cRussia is one of the most reliable partners in this effort. Not just because we fully observe our obligations and commitments in this area, but also because we have heavily invested into the development of the Russian segment of the so-called international monitoring system, which is an element of the CTBT machinery,\u201d the Russian minister said.
\nAsked about the Russian-US bilateral relations, Ryabkov said communications with US Ambassador Lynn Tracy continue, there are visa problems, and even work of embassies is on the agenda as an issue that needs to be resolved.
\n\u201cI would not like any further deterioration, the situation as a whole is quite alarming, and one should not underestimate how tense everything is in Russian-American relations,\u201d he said.
\nHe said the US was hindering Russia\u2019s efforts to take part in an investigation of last September\u2019s Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea.
\nUS praises arms control architecture
\nMeanwhile, US Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins said members of the forum have built a wide-ranging and critical set of arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation agreements.
\n\u201cFrom the NPT to the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention to various agreements on nuclear testing and beyond, we have all taken obligations upon ourselves freely under these agreements in service of a broader vision,\u201d said Jenkins.
\nThe Conference on Disarmament comprises of 65 member States, including five NPT nuclear-weapon states and 60 other states of key military significance, such as South Africa which renounced its nuclear status after the end of apartheid in the 1990s.
\n\u201cSome of us have also created bilateral agreements, like the New START, and obligated ourselves to their parameters and timelines,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBut only a few days ago President Putin announced that Russia was unilaterally suspending its implementation of the New START Treaty. Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power.\u201d
\nThe US official said the world now faces a dramatically unstable security environment that pulls us away from collective action if countries do not live up to their obligations to reduce and manage the risks posed by weapons of mass destruction.
\nSigned in 2010 and extended in 2021 for another five years, the New START treaty aims to control and reduce strategic nuclear forces used by the US and Russia.
\nRyabkov said he held \u201ca professional talk\u201d with the US delegation about the New START on the sidelines of the conference.
\nHe said it is possible that other nuclear powers will join the treaty, but at the moment there is no political will on their part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov says when Moscow speaks about such risks, its remarks are twisted for propaganda purposes MOSCOW\/GENEVA The Russian deputy foreign minister on Thursday said the US and NATO\u2019s increasing involvement in the conflict in Ukraine could result in a direct military clash of nuclear powers \u201cwith disastrous consequences.\u201d When Moscow speaks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n