Peter Kenny
16 June 2021•Update: 17 June 2021
GENEVA
The presidents of the US and Russia issued a joint statement on Wednesday about "strategic stability" to reduce the threat of nuclear war.
Washington and Moscow have demonstrated that "even in periods of tension, they are able to make progress on our shared goals of ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere, reducing the risk of armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear war," said the statement by US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after meeting face-to-face for over three hours in Geneva.
Reporting progress on efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear warfare after the summit, which was the first since Biden took office in January, the two leaders said talks earlier this year that led to a historic extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) exemplifies their commitment to nuclear arms control.
"Today, we reaffirm the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
"Consistent with these goals, the United States and Russia will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust. Through this Dialogue, we seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures," they added.
At a UN Conference on Disarmament meeting in Geneva on April 2, the US and Russian envoys both hailed the extension of the New START, telling the arms control body that the accord serves the interests of both nations.
The US and Russia said at the regular session of the conference that the two countries had completed the necessary legal procedures to extend the New START Treaty for five years.
"The New START verification mechanism is the type of system that I, and others, have promoted in this body as absolutely necessary to any effective disarmament effort," said Ambassador Robert Wood, the US envoy to the arms control body at the time.
