Russia to continue informing US of missile launches under exchange agreement: Official

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Thursday said it would continue informing the US of any missile launches it conducts under a 1988 exchange agreement.

In a statement to reporters in Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that in the current situation concerning the framework of the New START Treaty, Russia and the US had suspended all information exchanges and elements of verification.

"But, as it was announced back in February, on a voluntary basis, the Russian Federation will adhere to the central quantitative restrictions on START, established in the START Treaty, and will also continue to implement the 1988 agreement on the exchange of notifications on missile launches," Ryabkov said.

He also claimed that the US was violating its obligations under the New START Treaty by refusing to notify Russia of missile launches, adding that Moscow had conveyed its position to Washington both orally and in writing with "no ambiguity."

Noting that Washington had not formally suspended the agreement, he said that under these circumstances, "we assume that their decision not to share their data with us in the so-called semi-annual exchanges violated their obligations under START."

Signed in 2010 and extended in 2021 for another five years, the New START Treaty aims to control and reduce strategic nuclear forces used by the US and Russia.

In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law suspending Moscow's participation in the New START due to Washington's involvement in the Ukraine war.

- Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Ryabkov also addressed a recent visit by the head of the UN's nuclear energy watchdog, Rafael Grossi, to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine.

"We are in constant contact with Grossi, both during his trips to Russia and, of course, through our permanent mission in Vienna," said the Russian official, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general paid a visit to the facility on Wednesday.

"We have our preferences and our vision of how the security zone should look and how it should function, including the question of what is the role of the IAEA and its personnel in this entire process," Ryabkov said.

He further claimed that Ukraine is ignoring security issues surrounding the nuclear power plant, accusing Kyiv of being willing to use the issue to achieve political ambitions.

"Unfortunately, Kyiv and the United States, covering Kyiv in every sense, take a destructive position here. They ignore the security interests of a key nuclear facility — Europe's largest nuclear power plant — and, by and large, are ready to sacrifice (them for) their political ambitions," he said.

"That is, trying to prove to someone that this facility is located on Ukrainian territory is more important for them than making sure that nuclear safety is ensured there," he added.

Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest and one of the world’s 10 biggest nuclear power plants, has been under Russian control since March last year, soon after the start of the Ukraine war.

Fears of a nuclear catastrophe persist amid reports of shelling around the area.