Abridged, but: France allowed participation in negotiations on nuclear disarmament
France is ready to consider participating in negotiations on nuclear disarmament — but on condition that Russia and the United States first lower their impressive arsenals to a modest French level. This was reported to Izvestia by the country's ambassador to the Russian Federation, Nicolas de Riviere. He expressed this position against the background of the expiration of the last Russian-American treaty and the active preparation of the United States for nuclear tests. Washington is provoking a new round of the arms race, which could trigger a symmetrical response from Beijing. However, before the tests, the United States will need to develop a new bomb and prepare the necessary infrastructure. The possible consequences of Washington's nuclear rhetoric are described in the Izvestia article.
France to consider disarmament talks
The last Russian-American strategic offensive arms treaty, START-3 (START Treaty), expires in February 2026. After the suspension of Russia's participation and the actual curtailment of the verification mechanisms, the treaty no longer fulfills its full deterrent role, and it cannot yet be extended, since it has already been extended to the maximum period.
Vladimir Putin offered the United States, on a bilateral basis, to voluntarily comply with the provisions of this treaty for another year. At the same time, the only way to fill the vacuum after the START Treaty expires is to create a new bilateral agreement or a multilateral arms control format with mandatory consideration of at least some of the other nuclear players.
At a minimum, the United Kingdom and France should participate in such an agreement because of their membership in NATO - Russia insists on this, and in the future, China, which is rapidly building up its strategic potential, requires the United States to include it. In this case, the new mechanism would cover all permanent members of the UN Security Council.
At the same time, Paris as a whole does not exclude contacts on this subject.
— France will be ready to consider joining multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament when Russia and the United States reduce their nuclear arsenals to levels equivalent to its own. France calls on Russia to continue nuclear disarmament,— the republic's ambassador to Russia, Nicolas de Riviere, told Izvestia.
According to him, Paris ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) back in 1998 and remains the only state that possesses such weapons and has completely dismantled its landfills.
The United Kingdom remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Embassy of the Kingdom in Moscow told Izvestia. London continues to participate in discussions on strategic security and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, including in dialogue with Russia as part of the P5 process.
— The United Kingdom has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and remains a member of the CTBT organization. We also support our own voluntary moratorium on nuclear test explosions. We will closely monitor any developments related to nuclear weapons tests. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has hampered progress, but we continue an expert dialogue on reducing nuclear risks and remain open to meaningful exchanges," the diplomatic mission said.
It is worth noting that Russia does not consider the actions in Ukraine to be an invasion. The Russian Federation is conducting a special operation on Ukrainian territory to protect the population of Donbass.
Contacts between nuclear-armed countries are extremely important to reduce the risk of miscalculation and ensure global security, the British Embassy concluded.
At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry calls the multilateral agreements in the US–Russia–China format "unreasonable and unrealistic," since the Chinese nuclear arsenal is significantly smaller than the American and Russian ones. The first ones who should take steps in this regard are Washington and Moscow, according to Beijing.
At the same time, the United States is just proposing to conclude a nuclear arms control treaty, Dmitry Solonnikov, director of the Institute for Modern State Development, said in a conversation with Izvestia. Washington is proposing a scheme in which Russia and China will be on the one hand, and the United States alone on the other.
— This, of course, does not suit anyone. Where are France and Great Britain in this scheme, which also have nuclear weapons? In this scenario, China appears to be "on the side of Russia" against the United States. At the same time, India and Pakistan are still standing against the United States," the expert explained.
There is no point in such a block logic at all, since France, Britain and the United States are part of the same military-political alliance — NATO, while Russia and China are not in any formal bloc, Solonnikov added.
The situation around nuclear tests
Discussions around the control of weapons of mass destruction have become especially relevant against the background of Donald Trump's statements about his readiness to resume nuclear tests. He publicly stated this on October 29. The head of the White House announced that he had instructed the Pentagon to immediately resume them for the first time since 1992. He later explained this by saying that Russia and China were allegedly conducting covert tests. Moscow and Beijing deny such accusations. Russia conducted its last nuclear tests in 1990, the United States in 1992, and China in 1996.
On November 12, the United States single-handedly voted against the annual UNGA resolution calling for the early entry into force of the CTBT.
At the same time, in the spring and summer of 2025, Trump publicly stated that his goal was "the elimination of nuclear weapons in the world," and Washington plans to begin negotiations with Russia and China on denuclearization. In the summer, he repeated his offer once again.
In general, the term "denuclearization" is absolutely not applicable to Russian-American relations, Vasily Klimov, a researcher at the IMEMO RAS Center for International Security, told Izvestia.
"It has to do with the situation on the Korean peninsula when it came to eliminating nuclear weapons in the context of the North Korean nuclear missile program," the expert noted.
At the same time, in the case of real negotiations on this issue, we will be talking about multilateral limitation and reduction of nuclear weapons. Not only China, but also Great Britain and France should be involved in this process, Klimov added.
Vladimir Putin confirmed at a meeting of the Russian Security Council on November 5 that Moscow continues to comply with its obligations under the CTBT and is not going to abandon them, however, if the United States or other parties to the treaty resume testing, "Russia must respond accordingly."
The Kremlin initially called the idea of nuclear disarmament correct, and the dialogue with the United States on arms control crucial for strategic stability. In the spring, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Moscow was open to a broad dialogue with the United States on nuclear arsenals, but serious further reductions were possible only if other powers, primarily Britain and France, joined the discussion.
On November 12, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the G7 meeting once again confirmed that Trump's idea of resuming nuclear tests was appropriate and justified against the background of tests by the country's opponents. He also clarified that the White House plans to test delivery systems, not just warheads. According to him, this is necessary to verify the "effectiveness and safety" of the nuclear arsenal itself.
If the United States does start preparing and conducting nuclear tests, it will violate the comprehensive ban treaty signed by them, Klimov added.
— Although the document has not yet officially entered into force, it acts as a multilateral moratorium. In order to conduct the tests, the United States, according to international legal norms, needs to withdraw its signature in six months," he said.
The immediate resumption of nuclear testing, which Trump has announced, is unlikely. At the same time, if the United States does take such a step, it could lead to a chain reaction among the nuclear powers, primarily a symmetrical response from Moscow and Beijing, Klimov believes.
— To start nuclear tests, first of all, you need to have a place to start them. Landfills have not been used in the United States for many years, so now we need to restore the entire infrastructure. This is not done so quickly," Dmitry Solonnikov noted.
Washington also needs to demonstrate new weapons during such tests, since it makes no sense to simply detonate a 50-year-old bomb, the expert added. You can't find such a model of weapons in the United States right now.
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