US Official: Preserving Arms Control Cooperation With Russia Becomes More Difficult

Forum Contacts RSS		RUSSIAN

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 28.09.2014

The United States will be working on preserving cooperation in nonproliferation and arms control with Russia even though new challenges have emerged, Tom Countryman, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation has said.

“We seek to preserve cooperation in nonproliferation and arms control between the United States and Russia. Traditionally we have been able to do that despite all peaks and valleys in the relationship between Moscow and Washington. It is more difficult this year,” the official said on the sidelines of the IAEA's 58th General Conference in Vienna.

According to Countryman, “It becomes more difficult when Russia displays repeatedly defiance of both bilateral and multilateral treaties that it has signed.”

“Those kind of treaties are the lifeblood of disarmament and nonproliferation, and the casual way, with which Moscow treats compliance not only with the IMF treaty, but with the UN Charger, the OSCE Final Act – all of them degrade the value of Russia’s commitments on specific issues such as disarmament and non-proliferation. It is a challenge that we are working through, and more specifically that we are working through during this conference,” the diplomat added.

Over the past few months, Moscow and Washington have been accusing each other of breaching the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The 1987 treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges, defined as between 300-3,400 miles.

Topics: USA, Russia

Other news:

Finnish Government Approves Rosatom Nuclear Reactor Project

Ten ministers voted in favor of granting the application, while seven ministers voted against.

Prime Minister: Finland to Continue Nuclear Cooperation With Russia Despite Sanctions

If we look at Rosatom's activities, there have been no problems whatsoever.

Russian Nuclear Experts Present Bushehr-2 NPP Project in Iran

Several Russian companies, including OKB Gidropress and Atomstroyexport participated in the seminar.

Hero of the day

The ISTC Responsible Science Program and Subprogram Culture of Nuclear Nonproliferation

The dual-use nature of nuclear technology consisting in the potential for its application equally in peaceful and military sphere is the basic contradiction for the existing nuclear nonproliferation regime and comprehensive development of the nuclear power and nuclear fuel cycle.

INTERVIEW

Jerry Hopwood
We are currently working with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on this approach, which was submitted in response to their February 2012 call for alternative proposals. We appreciate that the UK is in the early stages of their policy development activities and are pleased to be involved in such important work.

OPINION

Joint Plan of Action
The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran's nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful. Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek or develop any nuclear weapons.