Russia Y USA Contacts on arms control were resumed today, dialogue suspended since the start of the Russian “military campaign” in Ukraine.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov discussed “some current issues on arms control” with the new US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, according to the official statement from the Moscow Foreign Ministry.
The new ambassador of the USA in Russia, Lynne Tracy, has contracted the vice minister of the Russian Esteri Serghei Ryabkov. The ambasciatrice will work to maintain the dialogue between Washington and Mosca in a moment of tension without precedents: https://t.co/SgrFbTJ0dm
— Ambasciata USA (@AmbasciataUSA) January 30, 2023
The talks came just a day after Tracy, who is fluent in Russian, handed over the copy of the credentials to the Russian diplomat. That moment was preceded by a demonstration outside the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The demonstrators shouted and carried signs with messages against US hegemony, as well as denouncing that the weapons sent by Washington to Ukraine have killed civilians, according to Sputnik.
As reported by the US embassy on Monday, Tracy “pays special attention to maintaining dialogue between the capitals of our countries in a period of unprecedented tension.”
A few days ago Riabkov admitted that now there are no conditions for holding the bilateral commission on the disarmament treaty START III o New START, which expires in 2026.
He blamed the rhetoric and actions of the US – Ukraine’s largest arms supplier – for this, which he also accused of constantly provoking Moscow.
Washington suspended arms control dialogue with Moscow following the start of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022.
Subsequently, Russia in turn informed Washington in August of its decision to ban US on-site inspections of its arsenal of nuclear weapons, citing difficulties in doing the same in the US due to Western sanctions relating to overflight and concession permits. of visas to Russian officials.
Before resuming the dialogue on November 29 in Egypt, Russia also unilaterally postponed the bilateral commission meetings with the US on New START.
Last December, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned that the freezing by the United States of the dialogue on strategic stability multiplies the risks.
He recalled that the latest tangible result of the joint efforts of Russia and the United States has been the agreement to extend START, the strategic arms reduction treaty, until February 5, 2026.
Lavrov stressed that the US and NATO policy aiming in fact at an armed conflict with Russia represents a “serious threat”.
“It is evident that this can lead to direct conflict between nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences,” he stressed.
With information from Efe and Sputnik.
