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Russia warned today that it is “on the verge of a direct collision with the United States and NATO” and that it is “highly possible” that there will be no nuclear arms control treaty with the United States after 2026 due to Washington’s efforts to inflict a “strategic defeat” to Moscow. in Ukraine.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington’s decision to supply Kyiv with 31 of its fast-moving M1 Abrams tanks was an “extremely destructive step” that “escalated” the war in Ukraine.
Ryabkov said Washington’s apparent insistence on inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia means the future of the US-Moscow nuclear arms control treaty is in doubt.
He warned that the last remaining pillar of the treaty could therefore expire. in 2026 without replacement.
Russia warned today that it is “on the verge of a direct collision with the United States and NATO” and that it is “highly possible” that there will be no nuclear arms control treaty with the United States after 2026 due to Washington’s efforts to inflict a “strategic defeat” to Moscow. in Ukraine. In the picture: the launch of a Russian Sarmat missile
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington’s decision to supply Kyiv with 31 of its fast M1 Abrams tanks (pictured) was an “extremely destructive step” that “escalated” the war in Ukraine.
Both Russia and the United States still have vast arsenals of nuclear weapons that are currently partially limited by the 2011 New START Treaty, which in 2021 was extended to 2026.
However, what comes after February 4, 2026 is unclear, although Washington has indicated that it wants to reach a follow-on agreement with Russia.
Asked if Moscow could foresee no nuclear arms control treaty after 2026, Ryabkov told the New state agency RIA: ‘This is quite a possible scenario.’
Ryabkov, Russia’s top arms control diplomat, claimed that the United States had in recent years ignored Russia’s interests and dismantled most of the arms control architecture.
“The new START may well fall victim to this,” Ryabkov told RIA. “We are ready for such a scenario.”
Ryabkov said that the START treaty is aimed at strengthening strategic relations based on ‘mutual trust’ and the principle of security.
But he said these provisions have been “violated in the harshest and most cynical way by US actions to resolve the so-called ‘Russian question’ through aggressive containment.”
Ryabkov warned that this means that Russia is now on the verge of a direct collision between the US and NATO.
He added: ‘Our relations have reached this impasse over Washington’s anti-Russian line, which has hardened year by year and month by month in recent years.
Ryabkov said Washington’s apparent insistence on inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia means the future of the US-Moscow nuclear arms control treaty is in doubt.
“The entire security situation, including arms control, has been held hostage by the American line of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
“We will oppose this in the most resolute manner, using all the methods and means at our disposal.”
His comments are a warning to Washington that its continued military support for Ukraine could upend the last major post-Cold War bilateral arms control treaty with Russia.
The United States has provided more than $27 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24, including more than 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft rocket systems, 8,500 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, and more than 1 million missiles. 155mm artillery.
“The entire situation in the security sphere, including arms control, has been held hostage by the American line of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia,” Ryabkov said.
“We will resist this in the strongest possible way using all the methods and means at our disposal.”
Talks between the United States and Russia on resuming inspections under the New START treaty were called off at the last minute in November 2022. The parties have not agreed on a time frame for further talks.
A view of the ‘Grad’ artillery battery as it fires, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Sunday.
Russia and the United States, which were constrained during the Cold War by a tangle of arms control agreements, still together account for about 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads.
The United States said in its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review that Russia and China were expanding and modernizing their nuclear forces, and that Washington would follow an arms-control approach to avoid costly arms races.
The New START Treaty limited both sides to 1,550 warheads on deployed ICBMs, ballistic submarines, and heavy bombers. Both sides met the core limits for 2018.
“The expiration of the Treaty without a follow-up agreement would leave Russia free to expand strategic nuclear forces that are now restricted, as well as new regional and intercontinental systems that are not currently limited by the Treaty,” according to the US Nuclear Review of the posture.
“Russia is seeking several novel nuclear-capable systems designed to put the US homeland or Allies and partners at risk, some of which are also not liable under New START.”
Meanwhile, Ryabkov said Washington’s decision to supply Kyiv with M1 Abrams tanks was an “extremely destructive step” that “escalated” the war in Ukraine.
“There is no doubt that this is an extremely destructive step from the point of view of an attempt to implement a steep-escalation scenario in Ukraine,” he said.
“Paradoxically, US officials argue that deliveries of a broader range of increasingly advanced systems, including heavy systems to Ukraine, are not escalation.”
He claimed that the decision by Western nations to supply Ukraine with modern main battle tanks was “irresponsible”, adding that the international community is concerned about where Western politicians are “pushing the world”.
Washington is sending 31 of its fast-moving M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, while Berlin will initially supply at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks and give permission to other NATO countries, including Poland, Norway, Finland and Spain, to deliver theirs to Kyiv.
The UK has already said it will send 14 Challenger 2 tanks and Ukrainian troops landed in Britain on Saturday to learn how to use the next-generation battle tanks against Russian soldiers.
But delivery of these tanks is months away, leaving Kyiv fighting through the winter in what both sides have described as a meat grinder of a relentless war of attrition.
After Russia depleted its army with a failed assault on Kyiv last year, Ukrainian forces struck back and recaptured swaths of territory in the fall. But that advance has stalled since November, allowing Russia to retake the initiative.
Moscow’s Wagner mercenary force has sent thousands of convicts recruited from Russian prisons into the battle around Bakhmut, buying time for Russia’s regular army to reconstitute units with hundreds of thousands of reservists.
Zelenskiy said the West must speed up delivery of promised weapons so Ukraine can go on the offensive again.
Russia wants the war to drag on and exhaust our forces. So we have to make time our weapon,” she said. “We have to…accelerate supplies and open up new weapons options for Ukraine.”
The Kremlin reaffirmed its position Monday that more Western weapons supplies to Ukraine would only lead to further escalation.
“It leads NATO countries to become more and more directly involved in the conflict, but it does not have the potential to change the course of events and it will not,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.