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Russia Reduced Its Nukes by Over 85% Under Non-Proliferation Treaty – Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has decreased its nuclear arsenal by more than 85 percent under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Sputnik

The relevant statement has been delivered by the Russian delegation at the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the NPT Parties, which was held in Geneva on Thursday.

"The issues of nuclear disarmament are high on the agenda of the NPT review process. Our country is committed to building a world free of nuclear weapons. Russia has already made an unprecedented contribution to nuclear disarmament by having decreased its nuclear arsenal by more than 85%," the statement read.

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Moscow fully complies with the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with the United States, but could not confirm that the latter has also been strictly implementing the obligations.

"Unfortunately, we cannot confirm that the other Party to the Treaty has also reached the set limits. The figures declared by the US have been reached not only by actually reducing the arms, but also through manipulations that are incorrect from the point of view of the Treaty. Specifically Washington has unilaterally removed from the accountability under the Treaty 56 Trident II SLBM launchers and 41 B-52H heavy bombers by declaring them as converted. However, the so-called conversion has been conducted in such a way that Russia cannot confirm its results as it is specified in the New START Treaty," the Foreign Ministry noted.

Earlier in the week, Moscow said Washington covered up its own flaws by claiming that it strictly complied with international arms control agreements, while accusing a number of countries of violating these deals. It also said the United States deliberately distorted the provisions of Russia's military doctrine concerning the possibility of nuclear weapons use.

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Anita Friedt in response to Russia’s comments told Sputnik on Wednesday that the US State Department has not yet read the Russian comments, but will study them in the near future.

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