Russia Will Open Nuclear Disarmament Talks With US
AFP
Russia has confirmed that it will open talks with the US this month on extending a major nuclear disarmament treaty but warned that Washington’s insistence on including China could scuttle efforts. The deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov will meet the US envoy Marshall Billingslea in Vienna on 22 June to begin negotiations on New Start, which expires in February. Donald Trump has withdrawn from a number of international agreements but voiced a general interest in preserving New Start, which obliged the US and Russia to halve their inventories of strategic nuclear missile launchers. But the Trump administration says that a successor to New Start, a treaty negotiated under Barack Obama, should bring in China, whose nuclear arsenal is growing but remains significantly smaller than those of Russia and the US.
Russia, China Build Case at UN to Protect Iran from US Sanctions Threat
Michelle Nicols | Reuters
Russia and China have started making the case at the United Nations against Washington’s claim that it can trigger a return of all sanctions on Iran at the Security Council, with Moscow invoking a 50-year-old international legal opinion to argue against the move. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, both wrote to the 15-member council and U.N. chief Antonio Guterres as the United States threatens to spark a so-called sanctions snapback under the Iran nuclear deal, even though Washington quit the accord in 2018. Washington has threatened to trigger a return of U.N. sanctions on Iran if the Security Council does not extend an arms embargo due to expire in October under Tehran’s deal with world powers to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
New Bill Would Prohibit the President From Nuking a Hurricane
Maddie Stone | Washington Post
Last August, Axios reported that President Trump repeatedly asked top national security officials to consider using nuclear bombs to weaken or destroy hurricanes. Now, one congresswoman wants to make it illegal for Trump, or any president, to act on this idea, which experts say would be both ineffective and extremely dangerous. On June 1, Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Tex.) introduced the Climate Change and Hurricane Correlation and Strategy Act, a bill that explicitly prohibits the president, along with any other federal agency or official, from employing a nuclear bomb or other “strategic weapon” with the goal of “altering weather patterns or addressing climate change.” The bill, which has no co-sponsors and no hearing date, appears unlikely to make it out of committee anytime soon.
US Offers to Build UK's 5G and Nuclear Stations to End ‘Coercive’ Relationship With China
Danielle Sheridan | Telegraph
America has offered to build Britain's 5G and nuclear power stations so that the "coercive and bullying" relationship with China can end, Mike Pompeo has said. In a statement released yesterday the US Secretary of State said America stood with its “allies and partners against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) coercive bullying tactics”, as he sighted reports that Beijing had threatened to punish HSBC and “break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom unless London allows Huawei to build its 5G network”.
F-15E Becomes First Aircraft Compatible With New Nuclear Bomb Design
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
America’s newest nuclear bomb design has been successfully tested on the F-15E, making the Strike Eagle the first fighter jet to be officially compatible with the B61-12 design. Two test flights were flown twice in March at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, according to a release by Sandia Labs. The mock weapon was released on one test at about 1,000 feet and at nearly the speed of sound, while a higher-altitude test occurred at around 25,000 feet; both tests hit the target as designed. The B61-12 program will replace the B61-3, -4, -7 and -10 nuclear gravity bomb variants with a new warhead design. The upgraded variant will be certified on America’s F-15, F-16 and B-2 aircraft, as well as on aircraft for NATO member nations.
India and China Talk Again, Pangong Lake Remains Point of Contention
Snesh Alex Philip | Print
India and China Wednesday held yet another round of military talks to resolve the over month-long standoff in Eastern Ladakh, with Pangong Lake becoming the main concern area. The talks between GOC (General Officer Commanding), 3 Division, and his Chinese counterpart came a day after both sides carried out “small disengagement” steps in multiple locations as part of confidence building measures. The talks happened on a day the Chinese foreign ministry said that troops have started implementing the “positive consensus” reached by senior military officials of the two countries on 6 June aimed at “easing” the situation along the borders. As reported by ThePrint on earlier, India has demanded that the Chinese maintain the status quo as of early April this year along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).