The past summit in Helsinki marked not only another “reset” in US-Russian relations but also a possible renewal of the cooperation in the field of nuclear arsenal reduction.
The New START, signed in 2010, faced difficulties not provided for in the treaty. Thus, former US President Obama, reporting to the US Congress, declared “full compliance” with the terms of the treaty, while simultaneously moving nuclear weapons beyond the scope of the treaty, be it submarines or strategic bombers that retained the possibility of using nuclear weapons or re-designation of missile silos as “training centers” without any changes in their design.
Yes, relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated significantly in recent years, which led to the shutdown of many venues for cooperation between countries. Nevertheless, the fact remains: the United States and Russia possess more than 90% of nuclear weapons on the planet.
Given this dismal fact, the leaders of Washington and Moscow have a special responsibility to avoid a direct conflict and reduce the nuclear threat.
Therefore, we cannot fail to mention that at the past summit the New START treaty was raised as one of the issues in future US-Russian relations. Despite the fact that US President Donald Trump did not mention the extension of the treaty in his speech after the summit, the statement of Russian leader Vladimir Putin about his readiness to extend the treaty on the reduction of nuclear arsenals gives us hope that this issue was discussed.
National Security Adviser John Bolton has long criticized this agreement, calling it “unilateral disarmament” and “a disgusting deal.” In reality, the agreement establishes equal limits for both parties, ensuring mutual benefit.
And the fact that the retinue of our President and other politicians in both parties use the treaty as a trump card in their domestic political game, claiming that prolonging it is impossible without eliminating the “Russian threat” simply threatens the whole world – and although many opponents of the President are ready to sacrifice peace, security and future of our country for their immediate benefit only confirms my thesis that the possible extension of the treaty as a result of the Helsinki summit can become a very real victory for President Donald Trump.