Russia Worried about US Attempt to Destroy Disarmament System

Moscow, Nov 22 (Prensa Latina) Russia expressed on Thursday its deep concern over the attempts of the United States to destroy or reform the current system to limit the proliferation of weapons in the world, especially nuclear weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov told the Italian news agency Agi that his country and the United States, as possessors of the largest arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, have a responsibility to maintain strategic stability in the world.

With the intention of guaranteeing total freedom of action, Washington announced its possible withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), he said.

In addition, some political circles in the US question the extension in 2021 of the Treaty for Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons (Start III), recalled the Russian diplomat, who is visiting Italy.

The position of withdrawing from the INF and leaving the Start III aside is a dangerous and lacks perspective, the experienced Russian diplomat said.

For Lavrov, the return to the policy of guarantee of mutual destruction between Russia and the West has nothing to do with the 21st century and in that sense, he asked himself if the concentration of the Atlantic Alliance on the Russian border and the response from Moscow offers more security for the world.

However, the areas and challenges against which Russia and the United States could work together are growing: from the fight against terrorism to the solution of situations of regional crises or, even, the climate, argued the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Statements by US President Donald Trump that his country will strengthen its nuclear power until others 'do not come to their senses' are aimed at our nation and China, he estimated.

At the same time, he considered that relations between his country and Italy are on the rise and, he said, the fruitful results of the recent meeting in this capital between President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte are proof of that.

Lavrov stressed that despite the unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, and other Western powers, some 500 Italian companies maintain their jobs in this state. In addition to the Italian investments in Russia, the European country plans to participate with its ENI company in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which brings gas directly from this nation to a concentrator plant in Germany, after crossing the Baltic Sea bottom.

In Italy, there are more and more politicians at different levels who propose ending the unilateral sanctions applied by the West against Russia since in 2014 it rejected the coup in Kiev and supported the sovereignty of Crimea and the cause of the rebels in the Donbass.