New arms control talks between the
United States and
Russia are to begin within days, according to Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov.
"We are planning in the coming days - I hope by mid-July - a meeting of delegations to look at tasks in the field of
strategic security," Lavrov said Wednesday, the Interfax news agency reported.
Presidents
Joe Biden and
Vladimir Putin had agreed to such talks two weeks ago at their summit in Geneva.
The US had previously walked away from several agreements because
Russia was said to have failed to abide by the rules. Moscow rejected this and repeatedly warned that an exit from the agreements could lead to a new arms race.
In early June, Putin sealed his country's
withdrawal from the treaty on international military observation flights.
This left only one important arms control agreement between the
United States and
Russia: the New START nuclear disarmament treaty.
Shortly before its expiration in February, Biden and Putin had agreed on an extension.
The
New START treaty limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 delivery systems and 1550 operational
nuclear warheads each.
