Putin Offers US An Immediate Extension to Key Nuclear Pact
Vladimir Isachenkov | AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Thursday to immediately extend the only remaining nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States, but a senior U.S. official said Washington wants a broader deal involving China. Speaking at a meeting with military officials, Putin said that Russia has repeatedly offered the U.S. to extend the New START treaty that expires in 2021 but that it hasn’t heard back. “Russia is ready to extend the New START treaty immediately, before the year’s end and without any preconditions,” he said. The pact, which was signed in 2010 by U.S. President Barack Obama and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Its expiration would remove any limits on Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals for the first time in decades. In Washington, a senior Pentagon official suggested the Trump administration is not interested in an immediate extension and sees no rush anyway as New Start doesn’t expire until Feb. 2021. John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told a Senate committee that the administration’s main priority is getting Russia and China to agree to begin negotiations on a broader arms treaty to supplant New START.
Iran Is Secretly Moving Missiles Into Iraq, US Officials Say
Julian Barnes and Eric Schmitt | New York Times
Iran has used the continuing chaos in Iraq to build up a hidden arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles in Iraq, part of a widening effort to try to intimidate the Middle East and assert its power, according to American intelligence and military officials. The missiles pose a threat to American allies and partners in the region, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, and could endanger American troops, the intelligence officials said. An arsenal of missiles outside its borders gives advantages to the Iranian government, military and paramilitary in any standoff with the United States and its regional allies. If the United States or Israel were to bomb Iran, its military could use missiles hidden in Iraq to strike back against Israel or a gulf country. The mere existence of those weapons could also help deter attacks. American intelligence officials first warned about new Iranian missiles in Iraq last year, and Israel launched an airstrike aimed at destroying the hidden Iranian weaponry. But since then, American officials have said the threat is growing, with new ballistic missiles being secretly moved in.
North Korea Says It Too Will Use Force Against US if Necessary
Yonhap News Agency
North Korea on Wednesday lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump for hinting at the use of force against the communist state, saying it too will take “prompt” measures if necessary. “One thing I would like to make clear is that the use of armed forces is not the privilege of the U.S. only,” Pak Jong Chon, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, said in a statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. The statement came hours after Trump said Washington could use force if it must while attending the NATO summit in Britain. “Now we have the most powerful military we've ever had and we're by far the most powerful country in the world. And, hopefully, we don't have to use it, but if we do, we'll use it. If we have to, we'll do it,” Trump said, urging North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un to honor their agreement to denuclearize. The North Korean official said Kim himself was “displeased” to hear Trump's latest remarks, and insisted the only thing preventing a physical conflict between the countries was the close relations between their leaders.
Senior Chinese Diplomat Set for First Visit to South Korea in Five Years Amid Missile Defense Row
Hyonhee Shin | Reuters
A high-ranking Chinese diplomat is visiting Seoul this week for the first time in five years as the two countries seek to improve ties amid a spat over a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea. The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, is set to arrive on Wednesday for a two-day stay, during which he will meet his counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, and President Moon Jae-in, Seoul officials said. South Korea sees China as instrumental in reviving stalled denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea, a longtime ally of Beijing. Wang’s visit will be his first since a dispute erupted over the installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea, though he and Kang have talked on other occasions. The United States suggested setting up the THAAD system to address North Korea’s missile threats, and a total of six interceptor batteries were installed at the southeastern air base of Seongju by 2017. Beijing angrily denounced the move, saying the system’s powerful radar could penetrate into Chinese territory and was part of a U.S. drive to establish a global missile shield. After Moon took office in 2017, the two sides sought to mend ties through an agreement under which South Korea recognized China’s concerns and promised not to deploy additional interceptors.
Pakistan Navy’s Nuke Storage Facility at Arabian Sea Port of Ormara Sees Massive Expansion
Vinayak Bhat | Print
While Pakistan’s Army gets all the attention within and outside the country, its navy has its fair share of strategic assets too, and has been expanding with Chinese assistance in every field. One of the biggest expansions has taken place at the Arabian Sea port of Ormara in Gwadar district of Balochistan province, about 350 km west of Karachi, which is supposed to be a storage facility for the nuclear capable Hatf-VII/Babur missile. Satellite images suggest that the entire facility, once complete, will likely cater to a regiment of Babur coastal missile systems on tractor erector launchers (TELs). The storage facility, mostly constructed overground, is located at the hammerhead-shaped peninsula in Ormara. By 2018, the 25-acre area originally covered by the facility was expanded to 425 acres, boxed in by an external fence. Latest satellite images now show that the external fence now occupies an area of almost 1,000 acres, covering almost the entire hammerhead of Ormara.
Russia Suspends Work at Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Plant Over Uranium Compatibility Issue
Reuters
Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom suspended work on revamping a factory at Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant due to an issue with uranium compatibility, Rosatom unit TVEL said on Thursday. “Uranium enrichment and the production of stable isotopes cannot be carried out in the same room,” TVEL said in a statement, adding that it was “technologically impossible” to implement the project at this time. TVEL said the Iranian side had been informed of its decision.