Moscow blames nuclear talks withdrawal on US anti-Russian behaviour
Russia says it pulled out of nuclear talks with U.S. officials scheduled for Cairo this week owing to toxic anti-Russian behaviour from the United States.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram that Russia’s decision to postpone the arms talks, which had been scheduled to start on Tuesday, is driven by the dire state of relations between the two countries.
“In all areas, we note the highest level of toxicity and hostility from Washington.
“As part of the all-out hybrid war unleashed against us, almost every U.S. step towards Russia is subject to a pathological desire to harm our country wherever possible,” Zakharova said.
Zakharova also accused the United States of trying to manipulate the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) to its advantage.
She accused Washington of trying to alter the balance of forces under the treaty in a “wholly illegitimate” way by converting or renaming weapons to take them outside the scope of the agreement.
After Russia pulled out of the talks on Monday, the U.S. State Department said it was “ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability”.
As the last surviving arms pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, New START limits the number of atomic warheads that each side can deploy and has symbolic as well as practical significance.
Officials from the two countries had been due to meet in Egypt to discuss issues around New START, including the potential resumption of inspections of each other’s nuclear arsenals, a process suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Zakharova said Russia continues to regard the New START as an important tool for ensuring predictability and avoiding an arms race and hoped the two sides could meet on these issues in 2023.
No major breakthrough had been expected at the Cairo talks, but their scheduling had been interpreted as a sign that both countries were committed to maintaining at least some level of dialogue at a moment of extreme tension.
Relations between Russia and the United States have plunged to their most confrontational point in 60 years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, triggering waves of U.S. sanctions against Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is willing to use all means, including nuclear weapons, to defend what it regards as Russian territory.
Reuters/Zainab Sa’id
