Moscow could return to nuclear arms treaty if US gives up ‘hostile policy,’ Russian official says

Russia’s decision to leave the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S. is “unshakable,” but Moscow could be willing to return if Washington changes its policy on Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday.

“Our decision to suspend the START Treaty is unshakable,” Ryabkov said, according to a report by Russian state newswire Ria Novosti.

“Our own condition for the return to the full functioning of the treaty is the U.S. abandoning its fundamentally hostile policy towards Russia,” he added.

In February, days before the one-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Kremlin was suspending its participation in New START Treaty. The agreement, which came into effect in 2011, caps the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear warheads that the U.S. or Russia can be deploy.

On Friday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was willing to discuss a new nuclear arms control framework “without conditions” — a day after the U.S. Department of State announced it was taking “countermeasures” in response to Russia’s “ongoing violations” of the treaty.

Ryabkov said on Saturday that the countermeasures and Washington’s call for dialogue did not “change anything in [Russia’s] position.”