OREANDA-NEWS.  The fate of the bilateral Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States on the reduction of nuclear arsenals (Start III) is a foregone conclusion, since Washington decided not to extend it, Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. His words are quoted in the telegram channel of the RIA Novosti Agency.

During the online session of the Primakov readings, the Minister noted that the situation in the sphere of international strategic stability is "frankly deteriorating". According to Lavrov, the reason is the desire of the United States to regain global dominance.

The Start III Treaty has been in force since 2011 and expires in 2021. Washington has recently repeatedly stated that it would like to involve China in negotiations on limiting nuclear arsenals.

Recently, Deputy Chairman of the security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said that he assesses the prospects of extending the Start III Treaty extremely skeptical because of the us position, RT reports. Russia, according to him, is ready to extend the agreement without any conditions.