A senior Russian official voiced concerns on Monday that Washington is increasing the role of nuclear weapons in its military planning as part of a stepped-up campaign by the Trump administration to ensure "U.S. military superiority over the rest of the world".
Andrei Belousov, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, told the UN General Assembly's disarmament committee that Russia is "especially concerned" at the Trump administration's Nuclear Posture Review. Mr Belousov also denied US allegations that Moscow had violated an arms treaty.
The policy review, released in early February, provides for "the creation of low-yield nuclear weapons that would lower the threshold of he use of nuclear weapons", Mr Belousov said. He said it "also envisages a return to the concept of a "limited nuclear war".
"In essence, the US military thinking in [the] nuclear field has rolled back a half a century when it was believed that a nuclear war was admissible and could be won," he told the committee's session on nuclear weapons.
Mr Belousov said Russia has repeatedly called for "appropriate conditions that would allow us to take practical measures to free the world from nuclear weapons". But he said Moscow must take into account "the existing strategic realities".
In addition to beefing up its nuclear arsenal, Mr Belousov said, the US is developing a global ballistic missile defence.
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He said the Trump administration is also refusing to abandon the potential use of weapons in outer space, increasing the "numeric and qualitative" imbalance in conventional weapons, and developing "the Prompt Global Strike concept" that would allow US precision-guided conventional weapons to strike anywhere on Earth within one hour.
Mr Belousov said the Trump administration explains its plans for "large-scale strengthening of its nuclear potential" by referring to the alleged growing role of nuclear weapons in Russia's military doctrine.
"Nevertheless, neither the military doctrine nor the statements of political or military leadership of the Russian Federation contain such assumptions," Mr Belousov said. "Actually, we reduced the role of nuclear weapons to the historic minimum."
He called US accusations that Russia is not complying with a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty "groundless" and said Moscow's claims of US violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty are "justified".
Still, Mr Belousov said, "we are prepared to work together with our US colleagues on the entire set of problems regarding the INF. We hope that we will be reciprocated".
Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the US is withdrawing from the INF, which was signed with the former Soviet Union. He said Russia has violated the treaty, which prohibits the US and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched nuclear cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.
Mr Trump warned that the US will begin developing such weapons unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop them. China was not a party to the agreement that was signed in 1987 by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Mr Belousov said US withdrawal from the INF would be "another short-sighted and extremely dangerous step by the United States for international peace".
"The withdrawal from the treaty would prove again that the US political and military authorities prioritise their foreign policy goals by obsessively striving to ensure the US military superiority over the rest of the world," Mr Belousov said. "But it is clear that they are not concerned about such issues as strategic stability, international peace and global security at all."
US National Security Adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev, discussed a range of arms control issues in Moscow on Monday, including the INF and a possible five-year extension of another pivotal arms control agreement between Russia and the US – the New Start Treaty, according to a statement from the Russian council.
The New Start Treaty, which limits long-range nuclear weapons to 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 launchers, is scheduled to expire in 2021. Russia has questioned US compliance.
Mr Belousov said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has confirmed our principled readiness to study the possibility of the treaty's extension. However, it cannot be done without addressing the remaining questions regarding the US compliance".
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.
Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
