Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed a US proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, stressing that it would be impossible as long as Washington offers military support to Ukraine.
In an annual news conference on Thursday (January 18), the Kremlin's top diplomat accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to increase its strikes against Russian territory, warning that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv.
The Associated Press reported that Lavrov commented about Washington's proposal to resume contacts about nuclear arms control, calling it "unacceptable" as Russia already put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He further argued that the US should pull back its hostile policy towards Russia for talks to recommence.
Lavrov Declines to Talk with US About Nukes
Last June, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration was ready to talk with Russia without conditions about a future nuclear arms control even as the relation between the two nations were at their lowest point since the Cold War.
However, Lavrov insisted that Washington's efforts to renew nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia's nuclear weapons sites, further mocking the US's demands as "indecent" and cynical in view of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict.
Mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites between the US and Russia were common in the 2010s due to the New START treaty signed by then presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010. Inspections were halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was never resumed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually suspended Russia's participation in the treaty in February 2023, saying that Russia could not allow US inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow's defeat in Ukraine as their goal. However, Russia did not explicitly decide to withdraw from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.
Lavrov's Other Diplomatic Matters
Also during the conference, Lavrov accused the UK of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to order further strikes in Russia without providing any proof to back the claim.
He further reaffirmed that Russia's "special military operation" would continue regardless of Western pressure.
Lavrov also talked at length about the growing influence of the Global South and how it was slowly balancing and outweighing Western sway in international affairs.
He also said that the Kremlin-Beijing relations were going through their "best period in history," and that a two-state solution was the only way to ensure security for Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the Middle East.
