WASHINGTON, February 23. /TASS/. The US authorities would like to get back to inspections as part of the New START nuclear arms control treaty and have a chance to discuss with Russia the implementation of this agreement, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said in an interview with Washington Post.

When asked if Russia’s suspension of the treaty would make any difference for the US in terms of behavior, the top State Department official said: "We will not [do this] and we've made that clear to the Russians."

According to Nuland, Washington has "no intention or need" to resume testing. "We would like to get back into mutual inspections. We would like to get back to a place where we can sit at a table and talk about implementation [of the treaty]," she said. Nuland also assured that the US is not interested in rebuilding its nuclear weapons.

The top State Department official said the US is trying to understand what Russia’s decision on suspending its participation in New START would mean in practical terms.