By IANS/RIA Movsti,
Moscow: The new arms reduction treaty to be signed between Russia and the US must cover America’s proposed missile defence shield in Europe in order to ensure nuclear parity, a top military official has said.
The two nuclear powers have been negotiating a replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which was signed between them after the second World War. START is expiring in December this year.
The talks began since Russian president Dmitry Medvedev met his US counterpart Barack Obama in April last year.
“The treaty is some 95 percent ready, but we still have to resolve some issues, including getting the US agreement to include the missile defence issues in the treaty,” General Nikolai Makarov said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily published Tuesday.
Makarov said the previous treaty was skewed in favour of the US and harmed Russia’s national interests. This time, Moscow wants to make sure that a new deal is based on parity and stability.
“If the Americans continue to expand their missile defences, they will certainly target our nuclear capability and in this case the balance of forces will shift in favour of the US,” the general said.
The development of missile defences would inevitably lead to a new round of the arms race and undermine the true nature of nuclear arms reductions, he said.
The controversy over the US missile shield in Europe had been resolved after the Obama administration last year scrapped plans to install interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.
But the recent efforts by the US towards European missile defence, which adds a naval component and could involve not only Poland and the Czech Republic but also Romania and Bulgaria, makes the potential threat to Russian nuclear deterrent even stronger.
The planned deployment of US interceptor missiles in the Black Sea region has triggered fierce criticism from Moscow.
Makarov said the Russian and the US presidents were deeply involved in the negotiations on the issues that are still holding back the conclusion of the new treaty.
“Whether the new treaty is signed, and how soon this will be, depends on the sides’ readiness to consider each other’s interests,” he said.
“All I can say with certainty is that the issue will be resolved on a parity basis and without any harm to Russia,” he said.