US Ready To Reschedule START Talks With Russia 'at Earliest Possible Date' - State Dept.

US Ready to Reschedule START Talks With Russia 'at Earliest Possible Date' - State Dept.

The United States stands ready to reschedule talks with Russia on the New START or the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty "at the earliest possible date," a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik on Monday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2022) The United States stands ready to reschedule talks with Russia on the New START or the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty "at the earliest possible date," a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik on Monday.

"The Russian side informed the United States that Russia has unilaterally postponed the meeting and stated that it would propose new dates," the spokesperson said in a statement. "(The US) is ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability."

According to the spokesperson, Moscow informed Washington of its decision to postpone the talks in "recent days."

A meeting to discuss the implementation of the New START Treaty was scheduled to take place on November 29 in Cairo, Egypt.

In September, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States and Russia are currently discussing resuming inspections under the New START Treaty and plan to soon hold an in-person bilateral meeting of the consultative commission.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the only remaining nuclear arms treaty for five more years without any renegotiation of its terms. New START is now set to expire on February 5, 2026.