US made no proposals to Russia on resuming strategic stability talks

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The United States is yet to make any concrete proposals to Russia regarding the resumption of strategic stability dialogue, Moscow's embassy in Washington said on Saturday.

"Presidents Vladimir Putin and 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 embassy told Newsweek.

"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 embassy added.

The Russian embassy also underlined that it was closely working with Washington on removing obstacles to resume inspection under the New START arms control treaty.

Moscow's diplomatic mission revealed that some outstanding issues have already been resolved.

Russia highlighted that the inspection activities have been suspended since 2020 under a mutual agreement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"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 stressed.

Moscow's mission said the treaty expires in 3.5 years, noting that the remaining time to work out an agreement was "extremely short".

"Any interaction on arms control matters must be conducted on an equal basis, with due consideration for mutual concerns and interests," the embassy stressed.

Further progress in discussions between the US and Russia on the New START Treaty is critical, according to a draft of the report of the First Committee of the Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) obtained by Sputnik.

The NPT Review Conference, which takes place every five years, is the premier event on the subject of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

The event's goal is to examine the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons' implementation throughout the reporting period and outline relevant initiatives for future nuclear weapons reduction.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in early August said that Russia officially informed the United States that it was temporarily withdrawing from inspection activities under New START of its facilities subject to inspections under the accord.

Moscow is forced to withdraw its facilities from New START inspections due to the United States' actions, which deprive Russia of the right to inspections in the US.