US and Russia Hold ‘Substantive’ Strategic Stability Talks as Moscow Raps Biden for Comments
Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood | CNN
US and Russian officials had “professional and substantive talks” on strategic stability in Switzerland, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman led a delegation of US officials in a meeting with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov, the first in a series of “integrated Strategic Stability Dialogue” talks arranged in June at President Joe Biden’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These strategic talks come as Russia is amassing military might in the Arctic and testing its newest weapons, including an unmanned stealth torpedo powered by a nuclear reactor. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that, “we remain committed, even in times of tension, to ensuring predictability and reducing the risk of armed conflict and threat of nuclear war.”
Khamenei Adds to Doubts on Iran Nuclear Deal Talks
Rick Gladstone | New York Times
Iran’s top leader injected new doubts Wednesday into the stalled effort to save the country’s 2015 nuclear pact with major powers, accusing the United States of duplicity and chastising the outgoing Iranian president as naïve. The remarks by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, come one week before President Hassan Rouhani — an architect of the original nuclear accord — will step down after eight years. The fate of Iran’s negotiations with the United States to revive the accord, which have been suspended for more than a month, now falls to Mr. Rouhani’s successor, Ebrahim Raisi, an arch-conservative disciple of Mr. Khamenei who takes office in a week.
North, South Korea in Talks Over Summit, Reopening Liaison Office
Hyonhee Shin | Reuters
North and South Korea are in talks to reopen a joint liaison office that Pyongyang blew up last year and to hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations, three South Korean government sources with knowledge of the matter said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been exploring ways to improve strained ties by exchanging multiple letters since April, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivity.
North America’s Arctic Radar Shield is Due for an Upgrade
Shashank Joshi | The Economist
The vast spheres rest on a desolate ridge at Cape Kiglapait in Labrador, one atop a tower and two others on the ground like a toppled snowman abandoned by giants. Each is a radome enclosing radar antennae that spew invisible waves across the Labrador sea. They are the electromechanical sentries of the Arctic. Strung across the northern fringes of Canadian territory from Labrador to Yukon, then into Alaska, the Kiglapait station and its many siblings form a picket line known as the North Warning System, or nws (see map).
China Appears to Be Expanding its Nuclear Capabilities, US Researchers Say in New Report
Brad Lendon and Nectar Gan | CNN
China is building a second field of missile silos in its western deserts, according to a new study, which researchers say signals a potential expansion of its nuclear arsenal and calls into question Beijing’s commitment to its “minimum deterrence” strategy. Identified via satellite imagery, the new missile base in China’s Xinjiang region may eventually include 110 silos, said the report released Monday by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). It is the second apparent silo field uncovered this month by researchers, adding to 120 silos that appear to be under construction in the neighboring province of Gansu, as detailed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Together, the two sites signify “the most significant expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal ever,” the FAS report said.
China’s Nuclear Power Firm Could Be Blocked From UK Projects
Jillian Ambrose | The Guardian
China’s state-owned nuclear energy company could be blocked from building a nuclear reactor due to rising security concerns over Chinese involvement in critical national infrastructure. Ministers are reportedly looking for ways to move ahead with plans for EDF Energy to build the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast without China General Nuclear (CGN), which owns a one-fifth stake in the project. Whitehall sources have confirmed the report, first published in the Financial Times, which has emerged amid deepening concerns over China’s security risk after the Huawei scandal last year.