WASHINGTON, August 20. /TASS/. Washington’s position that sanctions do not prevent Moscow from conducting New START Treaty inspections in the United States is misleading, the Russian embassy to the US said in the statement published on Saturday at Newsweek’s request to comment on the arms control situation.
"The inspection activities under the New START Treaty have indeed been suspended since the early 2020 by mutual agreement due to COVID-19 pandemic," the Russian embassy said in the statement.
"We are working closely with our American colleagues within the framework of the New START Bilateral Consultative Commission to remove organizational and technical obstacles to resume inspections," the embassy said adding that "some issues have been resolved but by no means all of them."
"The remaining problems stem from the anti-Russian restrictive measures imposed unilaterally by the United States. The State Department statement that the sanctions do not prevent our inspectors from conducting verification procedures on the US territory is misleading," the Russian diplomats stated.
Cooperation on matters of arms control should be conducted on an equal basis and with consideration for mutual concerns and interests, the Russian embassy to the United States said.
The Russian embassy recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden "reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the New START in the August 1 messages to the participants of the 10th NPT Review Conference."
"The US president stated that the administration was ready to expeditiously negotiate a new arms control framework. However, we have received no concrete proposals from Washington on the resumption of the bilateral dialogue on strategic stability," the Russian embassy noted.
The Russian diplomats pointed out that the New START Treaty expires in 3.5 years.
"The historic record of Russian-US negotiations shows that even if both sides are ready, the remaining time to work out an agreement is extremely short. Especially given that on Washington’s initiative the strategic consultations launched in 2021 have been frozen," the embassy said.
"Most importantly, any interaction on arms control matters must be conducted on an equal basis, with due consideration for mutual concerns and interests," the embassy emphasized.