Moscow has told the United States that it is temporarily withdrawing its facilities from inspections under the Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms due to sanctions against Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that Moscow made it clear to Washington that the sanctions violated the parity of inspections under the START Treaty, but did not receive a response, emphasizing that the restrictions imposed effectively deprived Russia of the right to check in the United States.
The department called this decision temporary and emphasized its readiness to cancel the decision immediately after the elimination of all problems related to the inspection activities of foreign colleagues.
START III, the only U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control regime, expires in 2026. Moscow and Washington began to agree on the parameters of a new treaty, but broke off the dialogue after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
Washington is ready to consider a new round of strategic dialogue with Moscow, but wants to see evidence of its goodwill approach, the State Department said.
According to Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, who signed the START-3 treaty in 2010, this is “the most inopportune time” for negotiations to extend the existing agreement or conclude a new one.
Source: RIA Novosti