Gorbachev urges talks to ‘avoid nuclear war’ as US bombers fly over Russian navy

Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the last leader of the former Soviet Union, has called on US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to resolve their differences through negotiation and work towards further restrictions on nuclear weapons as part of efforts to “avoid nuclear war.”

Gorbachev said in an interview with the Russian Interfax news agency on Saturday that the two leaders, who spoke by phone after Biden’s inauguration last month, should meet and discuss to push for further arms curbs.

“I believe that it is imperative that the presidents meet. Experience shows that it is necessary to meet and negotiate,” the 89-year-old former Soviet leader said.

“It is clear that the main thing is to avoid nuclear war. Since such a problem must be avoided, it is impossible to solve it alone, it is necessary to meet. If the desire to achieve disarmament and to strengthen security prevails, so much can be accomplished,” he added.

Tensions escalated between the two sides under former US president Donald Trump, fuelled by allegations of sweeping cyberattacks and a litany of other disagreements over security-related matters and nuclear arms control.

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Earlier this year, Gorbachev urged Washington and Moscow to mend relations and bridge gaps hampering progress in the improvement of bilateral ties, saying that the current situation was “of great concern.”

He said that once the New START nuclear accord, the last standing nuclear arms control agreement between Russia and the US, is extended “a more ambitious treaty” could be negotiated.

On January 29, the Russian president signed a law extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which the ex-American administration had failed to extend.

New START was inked between Washington and Moscow under then US and Russian presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.

Russia had long called for extending the treaty — which was due to expire on February 5 — the way it is, but the Trump administration only entered talks on the matter last year and conditioned the extension on a list of demands.

The negotiations then hit a stalemate as the two sides failed to hammer out their differences.

The treaty allows the two states to have no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It also envisages a strict compliance verification process.

New START is the last remaining nonproliferation deal between Russia and the US, after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), another key arms control treaty, expired in August 2019.

US bombers fly mission near Russian navy

Gorbachev made the plea a day after the US Air Force announced in a statement that its B-1 bombers had flown their first Bomber Task Force mission over the Norwegian Sea since deployment to the Scandinavian country, in an apparent show of force near Russian naval bases.

The planes "conducted tactical missions with Norwegian F-35 and Norwegian naval assets in the Norwegian Sea," the statement said.

The US bombers arrived in Norway earlier this week, accompanied by support aircraft and over 200 Air Force personnel that arrived at Orland Air Base, where Norway's F-35 fleet is also stationed.

B-1B Bombers from Dyess Air Force Base @usairforce
landed at Ørland Airbase today. This is an important training mission for the Norwegian Armed Forces together with allies.@US_EUCOM @NATO_AIRCOM @usembassyoslo pic.twitter.com/e89iX2FUAD

— Royal Norwegian Air Force (@Luftforsvaret) February 22, 2021

The Norwegian Sea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean in the Arctic area, is adjacent to the Barents Sea, which is regarded as "Russia's Naval Backyard" and the home of the Russian Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarines.

The Russian Defense Ministry had previously announced the potential for missile tests in the area between February 18 and February 24.

Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about the increasing activities of the US-led NATO forces near its western borders.

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