Moscow: US manipulated figures to seem to comply with new START treaty

MOSCOW (Sputnik): The United States manipulated figures to appear compliant with restrictions under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

“Once again we note that although Washington claims the opposite, the American side actually ‘fit’ into the total levels only with the help of incorrect manipulations with figures.”

“The announcement of its compliance with the required indicators was achieved not only through actual arms reductions but also through the illegitimate unilateral withdrawal from the count of about 100 strategic offensive arms under of the treaty”, the ministry said.

The remark comes after on 12 March Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow didn’t want the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to suffer the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear agreement, because of a changing US administration.

Prior to that, a source familiar with the matter told Sputnik that Moscow has been “seriously” concerned about American compliance with the Russia-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

On 16 February, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that there was a growing risk that the US administration was dragging out time by refusing to engage in a genuine dialogue on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) so that Moscow and Washington would fail to extend the accord before its expiration.

The Russia-US New START Treaty entered into force in 2011 and covers a 10-year period with the possibility of a five-year extension.

It is based on several previous joint non-proliferation arrangements and limits the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, nuclear-armed bombers, and nuclear warheads.