Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS on Oct.10 that the five nuclear weapons powers in the UN would be holding a meeting soon on the issue of strategic stability. In later comments to TASS he noted that the Five had held a meeting earlier this month on non-proliferation, concentrating primarily on North Korea. “The meeting did not contain elements of discussing the situation in the sphere of strategic stability,” he said on Oct. 17. “I think that China’s coordination in the ‘nuclear five’ is a more suitable source for the corresponding assessments. I am not ready to disclose what are called the semantic aspects of the discussion held there, because this format is closed.”
He discouraged any major expectations from such discussions, however, noting that the “Five” format has been in practice for many years, and “nothing is happening there now that would change the picture.”
According to her weekly briefing by Maria Zakharova on Oct. 16, she replied to a media question that “The meeting you are asking about has already taken place. It took place on October 10th of this year in New York at the expert level. Russia was represented by representatives of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs….”
