"It is very strange, if not harsh, to demand the resumption of inspections at Russian facilities of strategic offensive forces when the Kiev regime has made attempts to strike at our long-range aviation facilities with the direct military-technical and intelligence-information participation of the United States," Ryabkov told Russian media. The full interview is published on the foreign ministry's website.
"The question arises: what exactly are the Americans going to check there? Maybe, the consequences of these attacks?" the deputy minister added.
When asked if Moscow is concerned that without inspections and meetings of the bilateral consultative commission, the United States will accuse Russia of violating the treaty and stop fulfilling it's side, Ryabkov responded by saying that while the collapse of New START will cause "deep regret," Moscow will not "forcibly" keep the United States in the treaty.
If the Americans decide to aggravate the situation for propaganda purposes, it will be their choice. We are no stranger to Washington destroying arms control agreements instead of taking concrete practical steps to strengthen their viability. [...] We proceed from the fact that the agreement objectively continues to meet the interests of both countries.
Ryabkov said that in order to continue the dialogue on arms control with Washington, it is necessary to agree on the principles of coexistence that minimize conflict potential with the West.
He added that any such agreement should be based on the principles of equality and strict parity. "No unilateral concessions are allowed here," he stressed.
"For our part, we state that the over-the-top aggressiveness of the United States, which relied on inflicting a 'strategic defeat' on Russia in the all-out hybrid war unleashed against us, made it practically impossible in principle to conduct constructive and fruitful dealings with Washington on arms control in the 'business as usual' mode. This, of course, does not mean that we are giving up arms control as such," the diplomat said.
Ryabkov added that no new date had been set for talks with the United States on New START on Monday, as the conditions were not right for new talks on the treaty.
Last month, the deputy FM stressed that Russia-US talks on strategic arms reduction had been paused, not terminated. Moscow postponed a round of nuclear arms control talks with the United States set for late November in Cairo, with Ryabkov emphasizing at the time that the US had "not just demonstrated their reluctance to listen to our signals and reckon with our priorities, but also acted in the opposite way."
"The situation does not, frankly speaking, allow for setting a new date, ... taking into account this escalation trend in both rhetoric and actions by the United States," Ryabkov stated.
The diplomat added that Washington wanted to focus on resuming inspections under New START, while stonewalling Russia's request to discuss specifics related to the weapons count under the treaty.
Signed in 2010 by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the nuclear arms control pact aimed at halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers.
Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama sign new strategic arms reduction treaty
© Sputnik / Dmitry Astakhov
/ It was set to expire last year, however, Moscow and Washington managed to find common ground and approved a prolongation of the accord for five more years without renegotiating any of its terms. The treaty will now expire on February 4, 2026.