The US State Department on Monday said Russia had postponed a scheduled meeting with US officials to discuss the last remaining nuclear weapons treaty between the two countries, in the latest sign of a foreign rift. between Washington and Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine.
US and Russian officials were scheduled to meet Tuesday in Cairo to review implementation of the New START treaty, which since 2011 has limited the size of both strategic nuclear arsenals water at 1,500 warheads per side, down from tens of thousands at its peak. Cold War. President Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia agreed in early 2021 to extend the treaty for five years.
The State Department said in a statement that Russia had informed the United States that it was postponing the treaty’s Bilateral Advisory Committee meeting, which was scheduled to last for several days, and that it would propose New Day. The United States stands ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date, the statement said.
The United States hopes to continue inspecting Russia’s nuclear sites to verify Moscow’s compliance with the 2010 treaty, which officials planned to address in Cairo. Tests were suspended when the coronavirus pandemic began to sweep across the world in March 2020.
In August of this year, Russia said it would not allow it to resume, arguing that US sanctions restricting the travel of Russian officials had made it too difficult to inspect the US arsenal. difficult. The State Department argued that the US sanctions affected Russia’s ability to conduct such inspections.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, told reporters in August that despite the pause in inspections, the two sides “continued to provide treaty statements and data notices.” Mr. Price said the bilateral committee last met in October 2021.
Russia signaled an interest in continuing to extend New START beyond its current expiration date in 2026. But the Biden administration has halted new arms control negotiations with Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
