The United States said on Friday it was
"disappointed"
with Moscow's decision to postpone indefinitely a scheduled meeting with Washington on inspections under the New Start treaty, a key nuclear disarmament agreement.
An “abrupt” decision
State Department spokesman Ned Price denounced a
“sharp and unilateral”
Russian decision and assured that it was
“entirely wrong”
to suggest that the United States could be to blame for the postponement of this meeting initially scheduled for 29 November in Cairo.
“We remain ready to meet with Russia within the New Start treaty implementation body,”
Ned Price told reporters, however.
"We are committed to New Start in word and deed, and we urge Russia to prove"
that it is too, he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced Washington's
"hostility"
and
"toxicity"
to justify its decision to postpone the meeting.
The New Start treaty is the latest bilateral agreement of its kind linking the world's two main nuclear powers.
Signed in 2010, it limits the arsenals of the two countries to a maximum of 1,550 warheads deployed on either side, a reduction of almost 30% compared to the previous limit set in 2002. Russia announced in early August to suspend planned U.S. inspections of its military sites under the treaty, ensuring it is acting in response to U.S. obstructions to similar Russian inspections in the United States.
