WASHINGTON, 28 APR – RIA Novosti. Convincing victory in the presidential election in the United States in November, 2020 the incumbent Donald trump or his rival from the Democratic party is committed to dialogue with Russia, says fellow at the Council on foreign relations Thomas Graham.
Graham in 2004-07, he worked as special adviser and senior Director for Russia on the national security Council, the US under President George Bush.
“a Number of discussions in the United States are counterproductive. We are starting to see the Russian behind every problem that we have. It undermines our own efforts for the effective interaction with them”, – stated the expert.
Graham said that the dialogue with Russia to address issues of US national security. As one of such issues, he called the extension of the Treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive arms (start Treaty, or start-3), which expires next year.
In turn, the head of the Fund of the United States-Russia Celeste Wallander, a former senior Director for Russia at the NSC in the Obama administration, pointed out that Russia has already taken a number of steps towards US in extension of the start Treaty. In particular, she said, in Moscow said about the readiness to discuss the inclusion in the Treaty of new weapons, which are now not subject to restrictions.
“In my opinion, there is not any excuse not to renew the start Treaty,” said Wallander.
on Monday, the Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the results of the next round of dialogue on strategic stability with the United States, which was held in January, “there is no impetus to constructive solutions we are on the side of the American delegation did not notice”.
the Contract on reduction of strategic offensive arms, signed in 2010, is the only existing agreement between Russia and the USA on the limitation of armaments. The agreement expires in February 2021. The Russian side has repeatedly at the highest level declared that they were ready to extend the existing agreement without preconditions. In April, Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow still has not received Washington’s response to the note about the possibility of extending the start Treaty, in an interview with RIA Novosti Ryabkov added that Washington has all the signs will soon decide not to renew the contract. In turn, the President of the United States Donald trump expressed the desire to develop new trilateral nuclear agreement between Russia, China and the United States, as from the point of view of Washington start has a number of disadvantages. In Beijing and Moscow rejected this idea.
