Russia has postponed a week-long meeting of the bilateral consultative commission under the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty that was originally planned to convene in Cairo on Nov. 29. A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS the day before the talks were to convene that “the meeting has been postponed to a later date.” Russia will suggest new dates for the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters the same day, but it was too early to say when, and unlikely to be in this year.
Ryabkov made clear the decision was taken to send a political message. “Major issues that dominate our agenda with the United States today are more important than the technical or mechanical aspects of efforts as part of the START Treaty. This is how things look now,” Ryabkov told reporters.
He specified that one of those major issues is the strategic stability dialogue which the U.S. side canceled after the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. “Since the other party decided to suspend the dialogue, it’s up to them to initiate its resumption if it finds it reasonable,” Ryabkov said, when asked about the prospect of a Russian-U.S. dialogue on the issue. “Otherwise, we will find ourselves in a losing position. The Americans are well aware of our approach to the issue, which does not depend on the current situation but is based on the national security interests that we are deeply aware of.”
“We believe that dialogue is only possible based on the balance of interests and efforts to find common ground, while one party’s attempts to impose its views on the other are unacceptable. If the Americans understand this and work accordingly, there is a chance. If not, it means that this dialogue has no future even if it is resumed,” said Ryabkov.
As for the specifics of the Cairo talks, TASS reported that Ryabkov had said earlier that one of the key topics to be discussed by the commission at the Cairo meeting would be the resumption of inspections under New START. He cited the problem of the strategic carriers which the United States claims to have re-equipped with non-nuclear warheads, as an example. This refers to B-52 bombers that are no longer nuclear capable but cannot be verified as such by the Russians except by physical inspection, as well as Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines that have had 4 of their 24 missile tubes sealed shut.
In response, the State Department said it was ready to go ahead with the bilateral consultative commission meeting. “The United States is ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability,” the department said, reported AP.
