Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Russia’s former president rejected U.S. President Joe Biden’s call on Monday to resume talks on a new nuclear weapons treaty, saying the call was out of place in a changed world. Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said he has repeatedly told Washington that major issues, such as a framework to replace the New START treaty, could not be done without Russian involvement. Medvedev, writing on his Telegram channel, said Biden “reluctantly made” the call for new talks, referring to the Soviet-US arms deals that were struck despite Cold War-era difficulties. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “All this, of course, is good. But let me say it one more time – the situation now is much worse than in the Cold War,” wrote Medvedev, who served as president for four years while Vladimir Putin he was prime minister. “Much worse! And through no fault of our own. The main thing is… do we really need this? The world is a different place.” A Russian Foreign Ministry source had earlier questioned Biden’s proposal to negotiate the New START Treaty when it expires in 2026. Biden said in a statement on Monday that his administration was ready to “rapidly” negotiate a new framework, but that Russia would have to prove it was ready to continue working on nuclear arms control with the United States. “Is this a serious statement or has the White House website been hacked?” a Russian Foreign Ministry source told Reuters. “If it’s still a serious intention, who exactly do they plan to discuss it with?” The New START Treaty, concluded in 2011, committed the United States and Russia to curbing advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles, developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles and developing nuclear-equipped heavy bombers. It also placed limits on the nuclear warheads on those missiles and bombers that have been deployed and on the launchers for those missiles. Both sides reached the central limits of the treaty by February 5, 2018, and the treaty has been extended until the end of February 4, 2026. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Ron Popeski and Howard Goller Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
