How can the “deterrent balance” be maintained? This is what new disarmament talks between the nuclear powers USA and Russia are about in Geneva. But the positions are far apart.
The nuclear powers USA and Russia have started a new round of disarmament talks. The prelude was a meeting of the Deputy Foreign Ministers on Wednesday in Geneva.
On the Russian side, Sergei Ryabkov led the delegation, on the American side, Wendy Sherman. The one-day meeting dealt with future arms control and risk reduction as well as the consolidation of “strategic stability”, as the delegations said. The talks were agreed by US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Geneva in June.
“Strategic stability” means a balance of deterrence: For both sides, the consequences of a military attack with nuclear weapons are so negative that they have no incentive to start such a conflict.
The talks are seen as an important signal for global security. The basis is the only remaining major arms control agreement between the United States and Russia: the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty. Shortly before it expired in February, Biden and Putin had agreed on an extension. The New Start Treaty limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 operational nuclear warheads each.
The Kremlin welcomed the start of the talks. It is a positive signal that experts from both countries have met in Geneva, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov of the Interfax agency in Moscow. “We hope that in the course of the contacts we will at least manage to present the respective position more extensively,” he said. Concrete results were therefore not expected on the first day.
Previously, Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov had said that Moscow had already submitted its position and proposals to Washington in writing before these first talks this year. The meeting should initiate a process of in-depth analysis on both sides, said Ryabkov. The aim is to find points for “working together where there is prospect”.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that Putin’s and Biden’s June 16 summit should not be overrated. There is no reason for “illusions”. The talks in Geneva were useful and constructive, but they also made it clear that there were “serious differences of opinion”. Putin said that he was ready for relations to normalize. The USA remained an opponent. “To our regret, there are no partnership programs and relationships so far,” said Peskow.
In addition to strategic weapons, missile defense should also be discussed, according to experts. The analyst Andrej Baklizki from the University of the Russian Foreign Ministry doubted that this meeting was already about concrete topics, as he said in advance to journalists: “It is for both sides to get to know each other and to find a basic understanding.”
The US has adopted several agreements with the accusation that Russia is not adhering to the rules. Among them is the INF treaty banning land-based medium-range nuclear weapons. Moscow rejected the allegations and instead warned that an exit from the agreements could lead to an arms race.
The US had also withdrawn from the treaty for international military observation flights. At the beginning of June, Putin also sealed his country’s exit. The 1992 Open Skies Treaty was seen as an important confidence-building measure.
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