(Newswire.net— April 28, 2019) — Moscow – If the US, Russia and China agreed to ditch their nuclear weapons it would destroy the very pillars of global stability, said the head of the Committee on International Affairs of Russia’s Lower House, Leonid Slutsky, Russia Today reports.
“Balance of powers between Moscow and Washington is based on so-called mutually assured destruction,” the lawmaker told Russian TV. Slutsky was passing a comment as a reply to the video of Donald Trump in which the US President called on other countries to reduce their nuclear capabilities.
“We all have to get rid [of them]. Russia has to get rid of them, and China has to get rid of them,” Trump stated in an interview.
Russian MP, however, disagrees that the world would be a better place if countries get rid of nukes. “If it [nuclear race] won’t be the case anymore, there would be a risk of a real war, no more, no less,” Slutsky explained the reality behind the nuclear armament.
The comments that ditching nukes would be a bad idea, comes amid reports that the White House is preparing a new arms control treaty with Russia and China. However, the US has a long history of deal breaking attitude towards such agreements. The collapse of the Soviet Union was delivered on the wings of a treaty that NATO won’t expend towards Russia. After only a few decades, Russian neighbors were pushed into NATO who set troops along Russian Federation border.
Since entering the Oval Office in 2016, Trump has launched a trend of international agreements withdrawals. The US withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which links US, Canada, and Mexico.
In 2018 the Trump’s administration broke the nuclear deal with Iran, which was heavily criticized by the International community and by some of America’s most proven allies.
In February, the US also unilaterally withdrew from the 1987 INF Treaty, which bans ground-based missiles with a range of between 500km and 5,500km.
The Russian lawmaker Slutsky is skeptical about US nuclear disarmament even if the treaty is signed. He emphasized that the US increased its military budget up to $716 billion this year. He reminded that in February, the US also unilaterally withdrew from the 1987 INF Treaty, which bans ground-based missiles with a range of between 500km and 5,500km.
“Thus, Donald Trump’s statement could only be interpreted as a publicity move, typical for this president. He often makes contradicting statements one after another,” Slutsky concluded.