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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Tore up the Biden administration on Friday over his proposal to extend the only nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, telling “The Story” that it puts national security in danger.
The White House announced Thursday that Biden has offered a five-year extension of the new START treaty to Russia, which the Kremlin welcomes.
“It’s a really bad decision,” Cotton told host Martha MacCallum. “It puts American national security at risk. The new START treaty is a unilateral treaty that favors Russia.”
RUSSIA WELCOMES BIDEN’S PROPOSAL TO EXTEND NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTROL TREATY
The Trump administration had waited until last year to begin talks about extending the pact and included a list of demands that Russia would not respond to.
“After four years where Democrats fought their chests against Russia and went on and on about the collusion with Russia hoax, they have now returned to their old weak and accommodating methods of appeasing Russia,” Cotton said. . “We run the risk of facing nuclear outclassing from the combined nuclear forces of Russia and China, and it was a terrible decision by the Biden administration to fold their cards and give Vladimir Putin exactly what that he wanted from their first day in power. “
The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads deployed and 700 missiles and bombers deployed, and plans to conduct on-site inspections to verify compliance. It expires on February 5, according to the Associated Press.
The treaty does not cover small nuclear warheads and tactical nuclear weapons, Cotton argued, as well as some newer and “more sophisticated” systems that Putin has bragged about.
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“It ties a hand behind America’s back, but it leaves Russia free to continue developing all these other nuclear technologies,” he said.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said failure to renew the treaty “would weaken America’s understanding of Russia’s long-range nuclear forces.”
“Just as we engage Russia in a way that promotes American interests, we in the Department will remain lucid about the challenges that Russia poses and we are committed to defending the nation against their reckless and contradictory actions,” he said. -he declares.
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