Moscow sees no point in holding talks with the US side on strategic offensive weapons. This position was announced by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Ryabkov, commenting on statements by Washington that he is open to meetings with the Russian Federation in order to discuss its concerns and the possibility to return to the treaty on measures for the New Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START).
“It’s completely politically meaningless, and there can be no practical purpose in it. Even what we have declared as adherence to the central quantitative restrictions on strategic offensive arms under the treaty is a purely voluntary measure on our part. Speaking of this from a legal point of view, we have suspended the contract in its entirety, without any exceptions,” Lenta.ru quotes a diplomat who spoke at a session of the Valdai Discussion Club.
Ryabkov stressed that the United States must first change its hostile attitude towards Russia, and only then can we talk about the discussions on the content of the treaty.
Earlier, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation said that Moscow is ready to respond in any way to aggressive attacks from Washington.
Ryabkov called meaningless strategic offensive weapons talks with the US