Russia and the United States resumed talks on arms control on Tuesday, a dialogue suspended since the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry announced.
Russia’s deputy diplomacy minister, Serguei Ribkov, discussed “some current issues of arms control” with new US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, this Tuesday, according to the official statement.
The talks took place a day after Tracy, who speaks fluent Russian, presented her credentials to the Russian diplomat.
On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow indicated that Tracy is “devoting special attention to maintaining dialogue between the capitals of our countries during a period of unprecedented tension”.
Ribakov pointed that out a few days ago in the current situation there are no preconditions for a meeting of the bilateral committee for the START III disarmament treatywhich expires in 2016.
The Russian official attributed the situation to the rhetoric and actions of the United States, Ukraine’s largest arms supplier, which he also accused of relentlessly provoking Moscow.
Washington suspended arms control dialogue with Moscow following the start of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022.
As a result, Russia informed Washington in August of the decision to ban US “in situ” inspections of its nuclear weapons arsenal, claiming it has difficulty carrying out the same process in the US due to Western sanctions over flight authorizations and granting visas to Russian officials.
Before the resumption of dialogue in Egypt on November 29, Russia also unilaterally extended bilateral committee meetings with the United States on New START.
In DecemberRussian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov warned that freezing the dialogue on strategic stability by the US increases the risks.
At the same time, he recalled that the last tangible result of the joint efforts of Russia and the United States was the agreement to extend the START strategic arms reduction treaty for five years until February 5, 2026.
“It is clear that the problems will pile up due to the lack of negotiating work to maintain strategic stability. This may entail a multiplication of risks,” said Lavrov.
The head of diplomacy in Moscow also stressed that US and NATO policy in practice points to an armed conflict with Russia, which poses a “serious threat”.
“It is clear that this could lead to a direct conflict between nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences,” he stressed.
Source: DN
