Washington must share New START info with Moscow every 6 months - Russian deputy FM

MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - The United States has no right to deny information to Russia about its strategic offensive weapons, otherwise it should either suspend participation in the New START treaty or quit it altogether, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

He noted that Russia had fully suspended fulfillment of the treaty.

"This concerns every article without exception. Whichever one you take - it concerns all of them. Russia's declaration of readiness to comply with the principal quantitative limits is a strictly voluntary move, based on our awareness of our responsibility for international security, strategic stability and the need for at least a shred of predictability in this area," Ryabkov said.

Washington stated it would fully honor every other term of the treaty, Ryabkov said. "We shall see how it goes. For now, we have to state with regret that the United States has broadened the list of its treaty violations. No one gave them the right [...] not to share six-month information about its available strategic offensive weapons with us. They should either withdraw from the treaty or formally suspend its validity, just like Russia did, in order to abstain from sharing," he said.

"By doing so, the United States has demonstrated yet again that it flagrantly breaches obligations under New START. We regret that, but we are not surprised," Ryabkov said.