US wants New START Treaty with Russia back on schedule ASAP: Kirby
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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the US will be working through the embassy to try to figure out why the scheduled talks have been postponed, adding that they want to see them back on schedule asap.
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Then-Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
The United States has not received any clear explanation as to why Russia postponed the talks on the New START Treaty that were scheduled to take place in Cairo from November 29 to December 6, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.
"We haven't received a real solid answer from the Russians as to why they postpone this," Kirby told a briefing, adding that the US will be working through its Embassy in Moscow to know why Russia has postponed the talks.
"We're going to be working through the embassy to try to figure out what happened here," Kirby said.
The United States wants to see talks on the New START Treaty with Russia take place as soon as possible, he added.
"We'd like to see it get back on the schedule as soon as possible because it's important... not just important for our two nations. It's important for the rest of the world," Kirby said.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik "The session of the bilateral consultative commission on the Russian–US START Treaty, previously scheduled in Cairo [November 29 - December 6], will not take place on these dates. The event is postponed to a later date."
Russia: US violated New START treaty, hid number of strategic weapons
The Foreign Ministry confirmed in mid-October that Moscow and Washington exchanged notifications in September on the number of strategic offensive weapons under the New START Treaty.
In a release, the Russian Ministry explained that "information on the total quantities of strategic offensive weapons of Russia and the United States is given on the basis of the notifications provided for by the New START treaty, which the parties exchanged in September 2022 in accordance with paragraph 2 of Section II of Chapter Four of the Protocol to the Treaty."
According to the release, the number of strategic offensive weapons claimed by the United States does not take into account 41 heavy bombers B-52H, as well as other weapons that must be taken into account in accordance with the agreement.
"The number of strategic offensive arms declared by the United States does not take into account the 41 heavy bombers B-52H, which were declared converted by the US side, and the nuclear warheads counted behind them, as well as 56 launchers of SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) Trident-II, which are declared converted by the US side," the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out.
In addition, four ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) silo launchers, which the US has renamed "training silos", were not taken into account, the release mentioned.
"The Russian side cannot confirm that these strategic offensive arms have been made unsuitable for the use of nuclear weapons by heavy bombers and SLBMs, as provided for in paragraph 3 of Section I of Chapter Three of the Protocol to the Treaty, and also objects to the arbitrary reclassification of silos of ICBMs intended for training, in the category of 'training silos' provided for by the agreement in order to exclude them from the calculation," the Russian Ministry underlined.
Read: Sanctions on Russia made New START Treaty "impossible": Diplomat
