11/29/2022–|Last Updated: 11/29/202208:41 (Mecca)
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the meeting between Russia and the United States to discuss the possibility of resuming inspections under the “New START” treaty, the main nuclear disarmament deal between the two powers, has been postponed. indefinitely.
The Russian news agency “Tass” quoted the words of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The meeting of the bilateral consultative committee under the treaty (New START), which was initially supposed to be held in Cairo between November 29 and December 6 , will not take place on the specified date.” Adding that it has been “postponed indefinitely”.
According to Washington, Moscow has not provided a justification for postponing the meeting scheduled in Cairo. “We have not received a real response from the Russians as to why they postponed the meeting,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council.
Kirby expressed his wish to resume talks “as soon as possible”, underlining “the importance of the issue not only for the two countries, but also for the rest of the world”.
The postponement comes in the ninth month of Russia’s war with Ukraine, at a time when tensions between Moscow and the West have reached their peak.
Washington announced the meeting in early November, hoping for a “constructive” meeting, noting the importance of continuing to dialogue with the Russians on “risk reduction” despite the war in Ukraine.
Nuclear reduction
The last meeting of this advisory committee is in October 2021.
Russia announced in early August that it was suspending planned US inspections of its military sites under the “New START” treaty, stressing that it was a response to US sanctions against similar Russian inspections of the United States.
The New START treaty is the latest bilateral agreement of its kind linking the world’s two major nuclear powers.
Signed in 2010, the treaty stipulates that the two nuclear powers’ arsenals are limited to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads each, which represents a reduction of about 30% from the previous limit set in 2002.
It also limits the number of strategic launchers and heavy bombers to 800, which is enough to destroy the Earth many times.
In January 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the treaty for 5 years, until 2026.
