MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. Washington has stepped up efforts to bring Moscow back to negotiations under the strategic arms reduction treaty New START, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with RT Arabic.

"In the wake of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend New START, the Americans have stepped up their efforts to persuade Russia to change its mind and to return to New START negotiations so that inspections can resume. But this is impossible," he said.

Ryabkov recalled that Russia had adopted a relevant law and Moscow notified the US about this. Russia's return to New START might be a possibility "only if Washington reconsiders its course towards Russia," he said.

On February 21, Putin announced that Moscow was suspending its participation in New START, but not withdrawing from it altogether. He emphasized that before Russia returns to discussing the continuation of the treaty, it wished to have an understanding of how New START would take into account the arsenals of not only the United States, but also of other NATO nuclear powers: Britain and France. On March 1, Putin signed a law suspending Russia's participation in New START.