”Negotiations require a bona fide partner.” Biden appealed to Russia regarding nuclear arms control

US President Joe Biden said before the 10th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference that Russia must demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on nuclear arms control with the United States of America.

This is stated in a statement published on the website of the White House.

Joe Biden recalled that even at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to work together to maintain shared responsibility and ensure strategic stability.

He also emphasized that his Administration is ready to promptly negotiate a new arms control system that will replace the New START Strategic and Offensive Arms Treaty when it expires in 2026.

"But negotiations require a bona fide partner. And Russiaʼs brutal and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine disturbed the peace in Europe and is an attack on the fundamental principles of the international order. In this context, Russia must demonstrate that it is ready to resume nuclear arms control work with the United States," the US president said in a statement.

He did not ignore China and reminded that Beijing is also responsible under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

“China also has a responsibility as a nuclear power [participant] of the NPT and a permanent member of the UN Security Council to participate in negotiations that will reduce the risk of miscalculations and resolve [the problem of] destabilizing military dynamics. It does no good for any nation in the world to oppose participation in arms control and nuclear non-proliferation," Biden said.

He added that the US had developed a proposal to ensure a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

• At the beginning of July, Iran announced the beginning of enriching uranium to the level that allows the manufacture of nuclear weapons. According to the official representative of the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran, Behruz Kemalvendi, Iran informed the IAEA about injecting gas into the new IR6 centrifuge chain at Fordow to speed up uranium enrichment.
• A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published on June 13 stated that the risk of nuclear weapons use in the world has reached its highest level since the Cold War.
• On July 19, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported in its summary that Vladimir Putin may threaten to use nuclear weapons to deter a counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the liberation of the occupied territories of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts.
• On July 28, during a speech in Washington, British National Security Adviser Stephen Lovegrove said that the probability of a nuclear conflict is increasing because of the "communication gap" between Russia and China and Western countries.