MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Signals from Washington about its readiness for dialogue on the Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty are not backed by practical actions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview Wednesday.
"We hear signals coming from Washington about the corresponding readiness that apparently exists there, but these signals are not backed by any practical action," the diplomat insisted.
According to Ryabkov, such signals are "being accompanied by claims that the US must have a responsible partner in Russia."
"Those versed in the specifics of diplomatic language, will immediately sense that there’s some catch, namely, that Russia apparently must change its behavior before that would be possible," Ryabkov explained.
According to the senior diplomat, it was mentioned recently that Washington’s willingness to continue working in this area is conditioned on the restoration of inspections under the New START Treaty. Russia temporarily withdrew a number of sites that are supposed to be inspected from being covered by the treaty.
"It was done because we do not feel the US is ready to accept our inspection groups under the principle of reciprocity, not to mention that the Covid situation and related issues are still relevant and must be resolved," he stressed. "I’d rather not delve into the details of the signals that we exchange with the Americans in this sphere, I’d like merely to assure everyone interested in this story that the issue is being monitored, as we say."
"When this issue could be resolved is a totally different story altogether; it depends on the US’ goodwill and on numerous conditions, there are no simple solutions here," Ryabkov emphasized. "We are exerting all the necessary efforts and indeed, we realize that the New START, prolonged last year, will expire in 2026."