MOSCOW, January 27 - RIA Novosti. Withdrawal from various arms agreements is always a bad decision, but if the United States does not provide Russia with guarantees of strategic security, then dialogue on the extension of such agreements, for example, on the limitation of strategic offensive arms, will be extremely difficult, said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev in an interview with leading Russian media, including RIA Novosti.
"As for the withdrawal from various agreements, contracts. You know, it's always bad. We always treat it negatively. And moreover, the START-3 treaty that we signed with (then US President Barack - ed.) Obama and which was recently extended by (Russian and US Presidents - ed.) Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Joseph Biden for five years is an important document, an important agreement. And it's very good that we managed to do this, because nothing worked out with the previous administration in this regard," Medvedev replied to the question of what plans Russia has in case the United States does not provide guarantees of strategic security.
"But if such events occur, let's face it, this is a bad background for continuing negotiations on this topic, for extending any agreements. And in this sense, it is impossible to exclude any development of events from the point of view of contract law. I'm not even talking about our position. Look, the Americans have withdrawn from a large number of agreements recently. We have stated this with regret, but what can we do? Out and out. Naturally, in such conditions, the background for the continuation of negotiations, for example, on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons will be extremely difficult," Medvedev added.
