The United States views Russia’s calls for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from NATO countries in Europe as problematic. This was announced on Friday, January 7, by a senior representative of the US State Department.
According to her, these calls are not new for Washington.
“In the past, we made it clear to Russia that they [призывы] are indeed problematic for the US, and we have stated that as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear-armed alliance, ”she said.
On January 3, Russia, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement confirming that nuclear weapons are not aimed at each other or any other state, and pledged to prevent the unintended or unauthorized use of nuclear arsenals.
After that, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said that the “nuclear five” demonstrate to the world their responsibility for security in the field of nuclear arms control. He called the document very timely and informative.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, in turn, noted that the statement was prepared at the initiative of Moscow and included the idea of ”the inadmissibility of any war between nuclear states.”
Russian-American talks on strategic stability and security issues will take place on January 10. Thereafter, on January 12, the issue of European security and the situation in Ukraine will be discussed at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council and on January 13 with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance should refuse to conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.