Thread by @jseldin

"We've seen a string of egregious #Russia|n military & intelligence operations across the globe" - #election interference in US, propping up #Assad in #Syria, etc, @USArmsControl Envoy Marshall Billingslea tells #EUDefense

Russia's track record on arms control "equally abysmal"

"#Russia stands in violation of nearly every agreement we have with them" per @USArmsControl

"Even more concerning is what #China's up to" per @USArmsControl

"While it wants the world to believe that it maintains only a handful of weapons...it is in fact pursuing a dangerous & destabilizing nuclear weapons build-up w/the intent of ultimately seeking nuclear parity"

"For too long, #Russia & #China have been arms racing & we have not" per @USArmsControl

"We intend to establish a new arms control regime w/Russia & China to prevent an unprecedented 3-way arms race"

"The next agreement, simply put, must control&restrain all warheads" per @USArmsControl

"Any future agreement must be meaningfully verifiable..There is no longer a 'trust but verify' w/a cheating #Russia & a secretive & nontransparent #China. There is only verify &verify again"

"We're beginning to see some positive indications of evolution in the Chinese position" per @USArmsControl

#Russia|n actions dating back to 2007 large part of reason for "the erosion of arms controls" in #Europe, per @GERMANYonUN Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control, Amb Susanne Baumann

"We are back to an extremely difficult relationship w/#Russia, a Russia which is more assertive & shows a significant military build-up" per @GERMANYonUN

"To be fair, I think we also have to look into the #Russia|n perspective" per @GERMANYonUN "From this Russian perspective, @NATO's enlargement & its open door policy are considered a threat, as are missile defense, outer space or long-range conventional capabilities"

Disruptive technologies like #ArtificialIntelligence, #hypersonics "demand new and intelligent arms control instruments" per @GERMANYonUN

"We have to include #China more strngly into the arms control architecture" per @GERMANYonUN "We are concerned"

But she adds, "the involvement of China cannot come at the expense of existing arms control regimes, notably the new START Treaty"