US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after the expiration of the STO-3 nuclear arms control treaty, stated that Russia had been ignoring the treaty's provisions for years.
Points of attention
- Russia has been a long-time violator of the terms of the nuclear arms control agreement, Marco Rubio said.
- The termination of the New START treaty is forcing the United States to develop a new strategy in nuclear relations.
Russia did not fulfill the terms of the SNO-3 treaty — Rubio
This is stated in a statement by Rubio, released on February 6.
Rubio recalled that on February 5, the SNO-3 treaty expired, and after that, nuclear arms control advocates and many voices in the media tried to present the expiration of the treaty as a sign that the United States was starting a new nuclear arms race.
These concerns ignore the fact that Russia suspended implementation of the new STO treaty in 2023, after years of disregarding its terms.
Marco Rubio
US Secretary of State
He added that after the treaty expired, the United States faced a choice: either to commit unilaterally or to recognize that a new era required a new approach—namely, to conclude an agreement that reflected the fact that the United States may soon face not one, but two nuclear rivals: Russia and China.
The New START Treaty (or New START) is the last major agreement between the United States and Russia on the mutual reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. It was signed in 2010 in Prague by Presidents Obama and Medvedev, entered into force in 2011, and was intended to become the foundation of "nuclear stability" in the world.
