The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed to RIA Novosti news agency the information about the postponement of the meeting.
The Russian side informed the United States that it had unilaterally postponed the meeting and said it would propose new dates
– the US embassy told the newspaper.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed to the news agency that the meeting would not take place in the coming days and that “the event has been postponed to a later date.”
At the beginning of this month, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed information about the plans for the consultations in Cairo, which are scheduled to take place at the end of November and the beginning of December. Among the topics was the resumption of inspections under the New START treaty, which have been suspended since August, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at the time. He also announced that the Russian delegation to the negotiations would be headed by Vladimir Leontyev, Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Director of the Ministry’s Department for Countering Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control.
The New START agreement, which was signed in 2010 for ten years by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama, can be extended for five years. The contract entered into force in 2011. In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an agreement extending the validity of the treaty until February 5, 2026.
The United Nations has previously urged the United States and Russia to begin negotiations on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty as soon as possible. US President Joe Biden has stated that he is ready to discuss this matter with Moscow, and the Kremlin has also indicated the need for dialogue on this issue.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that Russia had received “sporadic signals” from the United States regarding the New START dialogue, noting that “the Americans are avoiding meaningful interaction on reducing regional conflict.”
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