Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that there is currently "no need to negotiate" with the United States on the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The deal, which seeks to decrease the number of nuclear missile launchers, was last extended in 2021 until 2026.
Medvedev, who signed the New START in 2010 with US President Barack Obama, said that he considers "the time for new negotiations to be the most inopportune" as Russia currently does not have "any relations with the US." He added that new treaty talks would be "unproductive, dangerous and seen as a sign of weakness" and that Washington should "run or crawl themselves and ask for it."
