Belarus welcomes the signing of the New START treaty by Russia and the United States

April 8, Minsk / Alina Grishkevich - BELTA /. The Belarusian side welcomes the signing of the Treaty on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms by Russia and the United States and considers it a significant contribution to strengthening strategic security and stability in the world. This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in connection with the signing of the treaty on April 8, which was announced today at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Head of the Information Department - Press Secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Savinykh, BELTA correspondent reports. "We expect that the Russian and American sides will make efforts to develop effective measures aimed at further reducing offensive weapons, which could create conditions for making the nuclear disarmament process irreversible and multilateral. Subsequent successes in the disarmament "track" will largely depend on the collective efforts of all interested members of the world community," the statement says. "We note with satisfaction the recognition in the preamble of the new treaty of the contribution of the Republic of Belarus to the process of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Belarus was the first state in the world to voluntarily renounce its nuclear weapons and has been a responsible participant in the Treaty on the Limitation and Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms of 1991 for many years." The statement emphasizes: "We proceed from the fact that Russia and the United States will strictly adhere to the security guarantees fixed in the Budapest Memoranda of 1994, which were confirmed in the joint Russian-American statement of December 4, 2009. Given the unique experience accumulated by the Belarusian side in the implementation of both the 1991 START treaty and other international agreements on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, we expect the continuation of political dialogue and expert interaction on this issue." -0-