US, Russia Begin Three Days of Nuclear Arms-Control Talks
RFE/RL
U.S. and Russian officials have opened three days of nuclear arms-control talks in Vienna less than a year before a treaty covering about 90 percent of the world's atomic weapons expires. During a first round of talks last month in the Austrian capital, the United States and Russia discussed their last remaining nuclear arms-control agreement, the 2010 New Strategic Arms Treaty (New START), which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each can have and which expires in February. Under a new format agreed last month by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, technical working groups will deal with military doctrines and potentials, transparency and verification, as well as with security in space, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Kim Jong Un Says Nuclear Weapons Will Guarantee North Korea's National Safety
Yuliya Talmazan and Stella Kim | NBC News
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hailed his country's nuclear weapons as a powerful deterrent against military threats, state media reported, as prospects of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula continue to dim amid stalled talks with Washington. “We have become able to reliably defend ourselves against any form of high-intensity pressure and military threat by imperialist reactionaries and other hostile forces," Kim said during a reception for veterans marking the 67th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, the official state-run KCNA news agency said Tuesday. "Thanks to our reliable and effective self-defense nuclear deterrence, the word war would no longer exist on this land, and the security and future of our state will be guaranteed forever," the North Korean leader said in his speech.
More Than 40 Countries Accuse North Korea of Breaching UN Sanctions
Michelle Nicols | Reuters
More than 40 countries accused North Korea on Friday of illicitly breaching a United Nations cap on refined petroleum imports and called for an immediate halt to deliveries until the end of the year, according to a complaint seen by Reuters. The 15-member U.N. Security Council imposed an annual cap of 500,000 barrels in December 2017 in a bid to cut off fuel for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. But in a complaint to the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee, 43 countries - including the United States, Britain and France - said they estimated that in the first five months of this year Pyongyang had imported more than 1.6 million barrels of refined petroleum via 56 illicit tanker deliveries.
US and UK Accuse Russia of Launching New Space Weapon
Ryan Browne | CNN
The US and UK militaries on Thursday accused Russia of conducting a space-based anti-satellite weapons test earlier this month, saying that a Russian satellite released an object capable of targeting a satellite. It's the first time the US has accused Moscow of testing such a weapon. “U.S. Space Command has evidence that Russia conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon," the command said in a statement, saying that on July 15, Russia "injected a new object into orbit from Cosmos 2543,” a Russian satellite that has been in orbit since 2019. The statement added that the new “object” was released in proximity to another Russian satellite, activity that the command said was “inconsistent with the system's stated mission as an inspector satellite.”
Putin Says Russian Navy to Get Hypersonic Nuclear Strike Weapons
Andrew Osborn | Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the Russian Navy would be armed with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones, which the defence ministry said were in their final phase of testing. Putin, who says he does not want an arms race, has often spoken of a new generation of Russian nuclear weapons that he says are unequalled and can hit almost anywhere in the world. Some Western experts have questioned how advanced they are. The weapons, some of which have yet to be deployed, include the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone, designed to be carried by submarines, and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which can be deployed on surface ships.
South Korea to Have Solid-Fuel Rockets in Major Deal With US
Hyung Jin-Kim | Defense News
South Korea said Tuesday it has won U.S. consent to use solid fuel for space launch vehicles, a move that is expected to enable Seoul to launch its first surveillance satellites and acquire technology to build more powerful missiles. Solid fuel offers greater mobility for missiles and rockets, and reduces launch preparation time. But Washington had imposed strict restrictions on Seoul’s use of solid propellant for space launch rockets out of concern that it could be used to produce bigger missiles and cause a regional arms race. On Tuesday, the South Korean government said that Seoul and Washington have agreed to revise related bilateral missile guidelines to lift such restrictions.