December 20, 2017
Seminar with Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the United States
Video Seminar: Took place on November 30, 2017, at CNS of MIIS in Monterey.
Students from the Middlebury Institute’s Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of current issues with Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov at an event hosted by the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) on Thursday.
“We believe a continuation of steady compliance with the deal is in the mutual interest,” Antonov said of the Iran nuclear deal, emphasizing that the International Atomic Energy Agency has “no complaints about Iran’s compliance.” If Iran acquired nuclear weapons, he added, it would be impossible to prevent its neighbors in the Middle East from doing the same.
Responding to a question about North Korea from Tracy Lyon MANPTS ’18, Antonov told the audience of about 50 students and faculty that he did not see any evidence in his talks with U.S. officials that “they have decided on a plan” regarding how to respond to an escalating situation. The Russian perspective, he said, “is that a solution will not be achieved with intensified sanctions, increased military activities near North Korea’s borders, and threats of using military force including nuclear weapons.” Antonov suggested that North Korea would not be persuaded to come to the negotiation table until there was a halt in joint U.S. military exercises on the Korean peninsula.
