© US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ronald Gutridge / Reuters
An unarmed Trident II D5 missile test launch from a US Navy submarine off the coast of California
Washington has failed to live up to its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Russia's Foreign Ministry concluded, citing the US nuclear build-up in Europe and its new hawkish nuclear doctrine.
The ministry was commenting on the 2017
Report on Adherence to and Compliance With Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments released by the US State Department last week. The report found the US to be in full compliance with the NPT Treaty.
"All US activities during the reporting period were consistent with obligations set forth in the NPT," it states.
Moscow argues that this could not be further from the truth, since the US not only continues to carry out the so-called "joint nuclear missions" with European states, but, according to its own Nuclear Posture Review, also eyes expanding the practice.
"All this is a direct violation of the Articles I and II of the Treaty," the ministry states, referring to the
provisions that expressly prohibit nations to "transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons" or hand over control over them.
Comment: The US wants to have the entire globe under its missile defense dome, Russia
says, which is disproportionate to any potential threat and disrupts international security systems, ultimately pushing the world to greater instability.
"Reckless development of the missile defense system by the US could have dire consequences for the international security system not only in the Euro-Atlantic region but in the Asia-Pacific one as well," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It added that the US policy in this field has turned into "one of the major obstacles to the further nuclear disarmament" and created "dangerous conditions for a renewed arms race."
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The missile defense systems deployed across the world appear to be "parts of a dangerous global project aimed at ensuring the US overwhelming military superiority at the expense of other nations' security," the statement said. They "change the strategic balance of power in the field of offensive weapons" and pose "serious risks of global instability."
This missile defense "umbrella" could create "an illusion of invulnerability and impunity" in Washington, fueling "dangerous unilateral steps" in pursuit of its goals.
US blames others in attempts to conceal its own violations of international law
The US declares itself the "paragon of adherence to the international law" and never hesitates to judge whether other states fulfill their obligations - the real criteria being whether they serve American interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement goes on. When accusing someone of violations, the US often "does not bother with providing any proof" and mixes "facts and speculations together."
"There is a growing number of reasons to believe that the real motive behind the US actions is... the fear that it would be exposed as [a nation] that throws baseless accusations at other countries... in attempt to conceal the numerous violations of international law in the field of arms control and non-proliferation committed by the US itself," the statement reads.
In the meantime, Washington de facto violated a number of major international treaties in the field of arms control, including the biological weapons convention and the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. It also still has not ratified the agreement on the comprehensive ban of any nuclear weapons tests, while creating conditions for such testing, the Russian ministry said.
See also:
Comment: The US wants to have the entire globe under its missile defense dome, Russia says, which is disproportionate to any potential threat and disrupts international security systems, ultimately pushing the world to greater instability. See also: