Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
10/10/2014
Calling the current state of the U.S.-Russia relationship “one of the worst in bilateral history, not only since the Cold War,” former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said this week that the two nations should restore dialogue on the mutual disarmament of nuclear weapons. During an Oct. 6 event in Washington focusing on the U.S.-Russia relationship, moderator and former CNN foreign correspondent Jill Dougherty alluded to the “up-for-discussion” Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, an agreement that the Obama Administration has accused Russia of violating. “If we really want stability and if we really want to guarantee nuclear nonproliferation regimes in the world, we need to have dialogue among us,” Ivanov said. “If we don’t have dialogue, we have less possibility to ask other countries not to develop their nuclear projects. Even during the Cold War, our negotiations on strategic weapons were one of the bases of our relations, defining the long-term interests, and now I don’t see any reason why we don’t speak about this issue.”
Since agreeing to the New START Treaty, Russia has thus far rebuffed U.S. attempts on follow-on arms control discussions, and experts have suggested that the prospects have dimmed since relations have chilled over Ukraine. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller has said the U.S. remains interested in pursuing further arms control talks despite Russian disinterest.
Ivanov: ‘Mechanism of Cooperation’ Needed
Ivanov said that the U.S. and Russia face a range of global threats, and should create a productive “mechanism of cooperation” based upon that common ground. “To have this, we need political will and political decision,” Ivanov said, both of which are not affected by U.S. or Russian elections. Understanding of common disarmament issues cannot happen without a mutual commitment to restoring trust, Ivanov said. “It’s easier to destroy than to restore the trust, and we know very well. That’s why we need to continue cooperation,” he said. “We know all our problems. We have the list. … We know what problems we have. We know what threats we have. This is not a state secret.”
Dougherty asked Ivanov his opinion on the scepter of war with the U.S., which some pundits have raised concerns about, she said. After much research on different scenarios, the Soviet Union found the use of nuclear weapons to be “impossible,” a notion that prompted a proposal by Russian officials to former President Mikhail Gorbachev to support the idea of elimination of nuclear weapons, Ivanov said. “I think that if it was impossible to use nuclear weapons at that time, I think that today it’s also impossible,” he said. “I think this is a speculation for different reasons, here and elsewhere, that nuclear weapons can be used.”
