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Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future - Strategic ...

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mankind to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe,” the<br />

general explained. 92<br />

Other aspects of Moscow’s attitude towards the<br />

issue of reducing TNW appear entirely unrealistic.<br />

In early April 2010, Lieutenant-General Yevgeny Buzhinsky,<br />

the former Head of the Defense Ministry’s<br />

International Legal Department, said that Russia<br />

could begin such discussions only after first achieving<br />

conventional parity with the United States, including<br />

in relation to high-precision weapons.<br />

We should not start negotiations on the reduction of<br />

tactical nuclear armaments as long as we have disparity<br />

in conventional armaments, especially high-precision<br />

ones. Under these circumstances, tactical nuclear<br />

armaments are means of deterrence <strong>and</strong> any reductions<br />

will inevitably damage <strong>Russian</strong> security. 93<br />

Clearly, given the ongoing problems facing the <strong>Russian</strong><br />

defense industry combined with the technology<br />

lag between its research <strong>and</strong> development compared<br />

to the United States, as well as the woefully inadequate<br />

level of modern equipment <strong>and</strong> weapons in<br />

the <strong>Russian</strong> TOE, such parity will prove impossible<br />

to achieve. But his assertion underscores a far deeper<br />

anxiety relating to long-term <strong>Russian</strong> conventional<br />

forces weaknesses that will prove to be a significant<br />

barrier among the security elites in placing the tactical<br />

nuclear reduction issue on the table. Buzhinsky went<br />

further than many experts. Referring to the precondition<br />

that the United States unilaterally withdraws its<br />

TNW from Europe prior to entering US-<strong>Russian</strong> talks,<br />

he added that all related infrastructure in Europe must<br />

be dismantled in order to rule out redeployment later.<br />

76

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