"This issue depends entirely on the choice that Washington will make. We had neither before, nor after the decision to postpone the session of the bilateral consultative commission [on New START] seen any signals, signs that the American side is showing interest in resuming such a dialogue," Ryabkov said.
"I emphasize that this is not a cancellation, but a postponement. After some time, we will offer the Americans new dates. But it will not happen instantly," Ryabkov stressed..
"And now it is premature to say how and when we will make these new proposals and what time period we will ultimately focus on," he said, noting that there will be a pause before the next meeting.
"We saw, up to the moment when the postponement of the session was announced and after it became public, the focus by the Americans exclusively on the topic of resuming inspections under the New START. Meanwhile, for us, the priority has been and remains the solution of other issues," Ryabkov told reporters.
"We have repeatedly explained our position and the essence of our claims to Washington: against the background of deep disagreements — not just in our priorities, but in our values also — we did not see the slightest will from the American side to move further in this direction. Although we have made some progress earlier, we have made some progress in finding mutual understanding on the subject of counting [limits]," Ryabkov said.