The treaty between Russia and the United States on the mutual reduction and limitation of deployed strategic nuclear weapons, or START III, extended by the presidents of the two countries for the next five years, consolidates Russia’s diplomatic success, limiting the likelihood of the start of an arms race as the main factor of a new Cold War, which, even according to the NATO secretary general, “is unprofitable for anyone”.
In addition to the fact that this is a huge contribution to the stability of the entire world community, the United States recognizes the inexpediency of a military confrontation with Russia, which is possible in the absence of an arms control treaty. First, American experts do not deny that the significant costs of manufacturing and global modernization of weapons do not meet the interests of the Biden administration. Secondly, the lack of mutual exchange of data on missile locations, the number of warheads, their movement and status will exacerbate tensions.
Thirdly, the New York and Washington Times regularly note the high level of Russian strategic weapons, such as the Borey-class nuclear submarines or new versions of the Iskander missile system. Ex-Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller also spoke about the great potential of weapons being developed in Russia – commenting, in particular, on the features of the Avangard hypersonic missile system, an analogue of which the Americans have not yet designed.
That is, with the prompt extension of START III, Biden not only confirmed that the foreign policy course he outlined differs from Trump’s strategy, but also contributed to the preservation of the American economy, which will definitely suffer if it is necessary to update both conventional and strategic weapons to the level of Russian power.
Tiberio Graziani, an Italian political expert, Chairman of the Vision & Global Trends International Institute for Global Analyses, expressed a similar opinion in an interview with the English editorial office of News Front.
“For Biden, the renewal of the New START Treaty for another five years was a necessary act for at least three reasons:
a) to differentiate himself from the previous Trump administration in the context of domestic and foreign policy;
b) to show, despite everything, his ability to manage on the diplomatic level the thorny affairs such as those connected to the question of international security (and return the United States to the system of international treaties – Ed.);
c) to maintain a channel with the Russian Federation on strategic armaments issues.
Theoretically and practically, the extension of the Treaty should limit the arms race, a realistic necessity for the US economy as well as that of the Russian Federation, in this particular historical moment in which the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the economies of the two signatory countries”, – the expert stated.