MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Wednesday it remained committed to extending the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States and would welcome efforts promised by the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden to reach agreement.
The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) accord, which was signed in 2010 and expires in February, limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy.
“Russia and its president are in favor of preserving this agreement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “If our American colleagues will in fact demonstrate a political will to preserve this pact by extending it, this can only be welcomed.”
Biden’s choice for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Tuesday that the incoming US administration would seek to extend the pact and decide how long an extension to pursue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last year called on Washington to extend the last major nuclear arms pact between the two countries for a year without any conditions.
A failure to extend New START could fuel a potential arms race and tensions between Moscow and Washington.
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Kremlin says would welcome Biden’s efforts to extend New START arms control treaty
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Kremlin says would welcome Biden’s efforts to extend New START arms control treaty
- The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) accord limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads
- A failure to extend New START could fuel a potential arms race and tensions between Moscow and Washington
Chancellor Merz: Germany does not need same fighter jets as France
- The Future Combat Aircraft System program was launched in 2017
- Scheme intended to replace France’s Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain by 2040
BERLIN: Germany does not need the same fighter jets as France, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, signaling that Berlin could abandon a flagship joint defense project.
“The French need, in the next generation of fighter jets, an aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons and operating from an aircraft carrier. That’s not what we currently need in the German military,” Merz said on the German podcast Machtwechsel.
The Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) program was launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain by 2040.
But the scheme, jointly developed by the three countries, stalled last year as France’s Dassault Aviation got into heated disputes with Airbus, which represents German and Spanish interests in the project.
The project has also fallen foul of wider Franco-German disagreements, with Berlin accusing Paris of not making enough effort to boost defense spending.
Merz had previously pledged a decision on FCAS by the end of last year but has postponed making the final call.
France has continued to insist the project is viable.
Merz said on the podcast that France and Germany were now “at odds over the specifications and profiles” of the kind of aircraft they needed.
“The question now is: do we have the strength and the will to build two aircraft for these two different requirement profiles, or only one?” he asked.
If this issue is not resolved, he said Germany would “not be able to continue the project,” adding that there were “other countries in Europe” ready to work with Berlin.
“The French need, in the next generation of fighter jets, an aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons and operating from an aircraft carrier. That’s not what we currently need in the German military,” Merz said on the German podcast Machtwechsel.
The Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) program was launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain by 2040.
But the scheme, jointly developed by the three countries, stalled last year as France’s Dassault Aviation got into heated disputes with Airbus, which represents German and Spanish interests in the project.
The project has also fallen foul of wider Franco-German disagreements, with Berlin accusing Paris of not making enough effort to boost defense spending.
Merz had previously pledged a decision on FCAS by the end of last year but has postponed making the final call.
France has continued to insist the project is viable.
Merz said on the podcast that France and Germany were now “at odds over the specifications and profiles” of the kind of aircraft they needed.
“The question now is: do we have the strength and the will to build two aircraft for these two different requirement profiles, or only one?” he asked.
If this issue is not resolved, he said Germany would “not be able to continue the project,” adding that there were “other countries in Europe” ready to work with Berlin.
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