"This is not discussed." US nuclear weapons remain in Europe
The United States does not intend to remove its nuclear weapons, which are located on the European continent.
The PolitNavigator correspondent reports this in an interview with Kommersant, the special presidential envoy for arms control of the United States, Marshall Billingsley, said.
The publication recalled that the Treaty on Further Measures for the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START) expires in February. At the same time, the American side demands that for extension, all types of nuclear weapons, including tactical ones, be included in this treaty. Russia responded by saying that the condition for discussing this issue would be the United States agreeing to remove its nuclear weapons from Europe.
“No, we won’t do that. But we are ready to discuss everything that Russia wants to talk to us about. We take the position of the Russian side extremely seriously and consider it important to conduct a professional dialogue on issues of common concern, as well as the concern of one of the parties,” the publication’s interlocutor said.
True, he added that the United States is ready to talk with Russia about NATO and the guarantees of nuclear deterrence given to members of the North Atlantic Alliance.
“But we will not remove nuclear weapons from any of their storage sites. And we do not demand the same from the Russian Federation. We are not demanding that the Russian authorities remove all their nuclear weapons from Kaliningrad or do anything similar. Therefore, no, this [removal of US B61 bombs from Europe] is not discussed,” the diplomat emphasized.
The newspaper noted that Kaliningrad is Russian territory, while European countries are not part of the United States.
“You asked what causes us concern - this question causes it. Therefore, no, we do not foresee any specific actions that could affect the change in the storage or deployment of [nuclear] weapons,” Billingsley concluded.
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