UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2019) All Russia's proposals to create additional communication channels with the United States, including on the extension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), remain on the table, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"During talks between our presidents, the Russian side offered to move towards creating additional channels of communication. These proposals are on the table, as well as our proposals that I mentioned today in my speech on a mutual moratorium on the deployment of [intermediate-range] missiles after the collapse of the [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces] INF Treaty and on preparations for the extension of the New START treaty," the minister said at a press conference following his participation in the UN General Assembly.
Russia does not mind inviting other countries to discuss strategic stability issues with the United States, Lavrov said.
"[US Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo expressed his readiness to discuss these topics, but reiterated the well-known US position that... we need to expand the scope. We will not mind any formats, if the participants that the United States would like to invite respond to this invitation," Lavrov said.
He noted that Russia believes that the New START treaty, which expires in February 2020, must be extended to maintain at least some kind of a mechanism in the field of strategic stability.
"And I hope that we will continue talking with our US colleagues on this issue," the minister added.
The meeting between Lavrov and Pompeo took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, it lasted a little less than an hour.
