Russia halts discussion on New START treaty with US amid ongoing Ukraine war

The escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war has made relations between the US and Russia sour due to the former’s ardent support of the Ukrainian administration. The strained relationship between US and Russia has also affected the negotiations regarding the new START Treaty. On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik radio that Russia is not going to discuss the New START Treaty with the US as long as it keeps on sending weapons to Ukraine.  

Accusing Washington of allocating funds for “extremist activities”, Zakharova said, "The United States is planning to send more weapons to the region of the conflict in which Russia has been involved. So, they will keep supplying all those arms and goad the Kyiv regime into committing more bloodshed, while allocating funds for extremist activities conducted under the authority of individuals on Bankovaya Streat who are far from being rational people, while we sit down to discuss mutual security issues with them, including those in their interests?"

START deal meets mutual interests of Russia and US: Zakharova 

Zakharova made it clear that the Russian bloc highly appreciates the New START Treaty which she claimed meets “the mutual interests of Russia and the US” but asserted that “appropriate conditions” should be considered. This assertion by Zakharova came after the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the postponement of the meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission under the Russia-US START Treaty. The meeting was scheduled to take place in Cairo on November 29 to December 6. 

Amidst all the chaos over the issue, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov took a different stance from Zakharova. In an interview with RT, Ryabkove said, “We didn’t stop any negotiations, any forms of dialogue (with the US)”. He then went on to add that Russia “regularly emphasizes its readiness to continue dialogue."