US-Russia Hold Private Nuclear Disarmament Talks in Geneva...Express Concerns Over AUKUS

"Concerns Over NPT Violation in Australia's Nuclear Submarine Technology Transfer"
Differences Over Arms Control Scope... Negotiations Stalled

On the 30th (local time), Wendy Sherman (right), U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and Sergey Ryabkov (left), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, met at a nuclear arms control talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The US and Russian delegations held a closed-door nuclear arms reduction meeting and agreed on the activities of working groups and additional meeting schedules in two areas: future arms control and strategic weapons. It is reported that there was no significant progress in the negotiations, as Russia recently expressed concerns about nuclear proliferation regarding the military alliance 'AUKUS' launched by the US, UK, and Australia, and there remain significant differences between the two sides on arms control.

On the 30th (local time), the delegations led by Wendy Sherman, US Deputy Secretary of State, and Sergey Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, held the second closed-door nuclear arms reduction meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. This meeting, held as a follow-up high-level working meeting after the US-Russia summit in June, was the second meeting since July.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov explained at a press conference after the meeting, "We agreed to operate two working groups with the US side; one will address principles and tasks for future arms control, and the other will deal with the potential of strategic weapons." Although the two sides also agreed on the next meeting, it is reported that there was no substantial progress in negotiations due to significant differences between the parties.

Deputy Minister Ryabkov also stated, "The security cooperation body AUKUS, launched by the US, UK, and Australia targeting China, and the transfer of nuclear submarine technology to Australia through it, could violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime," adding, "I conveyed these concerns directly to the US side." Regarding cybersecurity, Ryabkov explained that there was "slow progress" between the two countries.

The US side also evaluated that there was no major progress. A senior US official told the Associated Press in an interview, "This meeting was intensive, substantive, detailed, and dynamic," but "did not mention specific details. It is part of a cautious and solid process." According to the AP, the two sides showed differences on various issues such as Russia's interference in the US presidential election, cybersecurity issues, and the Ukraine border dispute.

Furthermore, it is reported that the two sides were evenly matched on arms control issues. According to the AP, Russia strongly insists that the US missile defense system (MD) should be included in the arms control agreement along with the AUKUS issue. In contrast, the US counters by proposing that all of Russia's various tactical nuclear weapons, including hypersonic missiles deployed in the field that were excluded from previous arms control agreements, should be included in arms control.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.