Testimony: The Importance of the New START Treaty
Pranay Vaddi | House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
My testimony will cover three specific areas related to New START and arms control in general: First, the way in which U.S. and allied security is enhanced through the Treaty’s verification and monitoring regime; second, the potential for New START to constrain Russia’s new nuclear-armed delivery systems; and, third, a proposed way forward on arms control with China. As the Committee is examining the value that the New START Treaty provides to the national security of the United States and its allies, especially in NATO, I hope to leave you with two clear conclusions: 1. New START’s expiration will undermine U.S. security by removing all limits on Russia’s modernizing nuclear arsenal, by reducing our visibility into that arsenal, and by damaging the cohesion of the trans-Atlantic Alliance. NATO places great stock in continuing the U.S.-Russia arms control process. 2. Extending New START will not create any new problems; the Treaty will continue to support U.S. national security goals.
US Urges China to Join Nuclear Arms Talks With Russia
Emma Farge | Reuters
The United States urged China on Tuesday to join trilateral nuclear arms talks with Moscow, calling Beijing’s secrecy around growing stockpiles a “serious threat to strategic stability”. U.S. President Donald Trump said last year he had discussed a new accord on limiting nuclear arms with Russian President Vladimir Putin and hoped to extend that to China in what would be a major deal between the globe’s top three atomic powers. But China has so far refused to take part. “We think, given the fact that China’s nuclear stockpile is estimated to double over the next ten years, now is the time to have that trilateral discussion,” Robert Wood, U.S. disarmament ambassador, told reporters on the opening day of the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He said that Washington had discussed the potential trilateral talks in a security meeting with Russia last week and had reached an “understanding” about pursuing them. “We cannot afford to wait,” he added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Russia would take part in potential trilateral talks but that he “won’t force China to change” its current position. China has previously said its weapons were the “lowest level” of its national security needs and not comparable to those of Russia and the United States. Other talks between the five declared nuclear powers that have ratified the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - China, United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom - are ongoing and a meeting is planned in London next month. However, Wood said this was not the right framework for nuclear arms talks with Beijing.
In Nuclear Spending Fight, It’s Trump Allies Vs. White House Budget Office
Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould | Defense News
Though there are often disagreements as presidents vet their budgets on Capitol Hill before finalizing them, it’s rare that those fights become public. This time, some of the president’s allies in Congress are battling the White House’s Office of Management and Budget on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency inside the Department of Energy. According to a report from The Dispatch, NNSA sought nearly $20 billion in the Trump administration’s upcoming fiscal 2021 budget request, but OMB cut that figure first to $18.6 billion, and then later to $17.5 billion. That lower figure still represents an increase of $500 million over the agency’s budget authorized for FY20. NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty reportedly pushed back in a Dec. 16 memo, arguing that losing the requested funding, along with projected funds over the next five years amounts to “unilateral disarmament” and would result in cutting “NNSA’s modernization program in half.” The cut reportedly came from OMB director Russ Vought and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who has previously butted heads with pro-defense members. They reportedly argue the lower number is meant to help comply with 2021 budget caps. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., has spearheaded a letter to Trump, with a dozen Republican senators, to support the NNSA’s request.
Efforts to Denuclearize North Korea Will Continue Despite Hard-Line Minister, US Says
Lara Jakes and Edward Wong | New York Times
Efforts to denuclearize North Korea will continue despite a new foreign minister in Pyongyang who is seen as a hard-liner and could take a tougher stance in stalled negotiations, a senior State Department official said Wednesday. The official would not forecast how the new foreign minister, Ri Son-gwon, who succeeds Ri Yong-ho, might approach negotiations with the United States over removing nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. The official, citing diplomatic protocol to speak on the condition of anonymity, predicted the talks would restart, given what he said was a shared desire for progress on the part of President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Privately, though, some officials acknowledge that the administration has gotten nowhere, and that there is no sign the North will give up its nuclear weapons. Ri Yong-ho’s removal was first reported on Saturday by NK News, based in Seoul. The move was interpreted as a sign of further turmoil among the ranks of North Korean officials responsible for negotiating with the Trump administration and getting the Americans to lift sanctions. The State Department official shrugged off suggestions that Russian and Chinese diplomats had dissuaded North Korea from carrying out a major weapons test that American officials had expected — and that Mr. Kim had described as a possible “Christmas gift” for Mr. Trump.
Iran Tells Europe Not to Follow US by Undermining Nuclear Pact
Parisa Hafezi and Babak Dehghanpisheh | Reuters
Iran’s president told European powers on Wednesday not to copy the United States by undermining Tehran’s strained nuclear pact with world powers, and said Tehran would not seek nuclear weapons whether or not the deal survived. Britain, France and Germany launched a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal this month, accusing Iran of violating the deal that has become increasingly frayed since Washington pulled out in 2018 and then reimposed sanctions on Tehran. The dispute mechanism could ultimately lead to the case being referred to the U.N. Security Council to restore U.N. sanctions. Iranian officials have threatened a range of steps if this should happen, including quitting the 2015 deal or even withdrawing from the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), basis for global nuclear arms control since the Cold War. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on his website President.Ir on Wednesday that the United States had made a mistake by quitting the 2015 pact. “Do you want to make the same mistake? ... I am emphasizing that if the Europeans make a mistake and violate the deal, they will be responsible for the consequences of their actions.” Rouhani’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, had earlier said one of Tehran’s possible responses to the crisis would be to withdraw from the 2015 deal. Rouhani said of the pact: “We do not want to destroy it and we are still committed to the deal.”
Pakistan Successfully Conducts Surface-to-Surface Training Launch of Missile Ghaznavi
Dawn
Pakistan on Thursday conducted a successful training launch of surface to surface ballistic missile (SSBM) Ghaznavi, a press release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). According to the press release, this launch was carried out as part of a training exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command “aimed at rehearsing operational readiness procedures during day and night.” Director General Strategic Plans Division Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj appreciated the operational preparedness of the Army Strategic Forces Command. He commended them for displaying a very high standard of proficiency in handling and operating the weapon system. “Troops displayed full confidence in the robust strategic command and control system,” said Director General Strategic Plans Division, was quoted as saying by ISPR. As per the military’s media wing, missile Ghaznavi is capable of delivering multiple types of warheads up to a range of 290 kilometres.