Russia is willing to discuss reducing nuclear weapons, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a Russian Armed Forces General Staff Military Academy lecture.
"We are ready to discuss the possibility of further reducing nuclear capacity, but only if all factors are taken into account and not only the number of strategic offensive weapons," TASS cited Lavrov as saying.
He explained that Moscow is ready for dialogue with Washington on the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons and believes that more countries need to be involved in the process.
"We are ready, but the conversation must be conducted taking into account all factors that affect strategic stability," Lavrov stressed.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, who was present at Lavrov's speech at the General Staff Academy, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the minister's statement primarily means that Russia does not plan a nuclear dialogue in the near future. "The point is that the strategic balance must be viewed in the context of all the forces and assets of the great powers. The superiority of the US in conventional weapons is colossal: it is a country that deploys a global missile defense system. Therefore, the reduction of nuclear arsenals by Russia and the US will only strengthen the disparity in conventional weapons, the physical balance will be broken," he pointed out.
At the same time, the US openly declares that they do not intend to discuss the reduction of their advantage in conventional weapons. "Given this, a logical response from Russia is to refuse to reduce offensive nuclear capabilities," Mikhail Remizov stressed.
"The process of disarmament has got to the stage when it is senseless to conduct it in the Russia-US regime only. Either we should involve other nuclear powers or not engage in this at all. But other nuclear powers are not eager to impose any restrictions on themselves, since they believe that the arsenals of Russia and the United States are far too strong," the president of the National Strategy Institute noted.
"The offensive potential in the nuclear sphere is a factor of strategic deterrence for Russia, and a strategic balance for the world. Our retreat in this direction, a reduction in offensive potential will fraught with an imbalance, which would disadvantage us, as a militarily power, which is weaker than the US," the expert warned.
