On July 28, local time, senior diplomats from the United States and Russia held talks on arms control and other strategic issues. Against the background that many differences have led to a difficult relationship between the two countries, the US State Department believes that this is a “substantial and professional “The talks.
The talks between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabukov at the US diplomatic mission in Geneva did not achieve a breakthrough. However, the US State Department stated that the two sides agreed to hold a new round of high-level talks in late September.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, “Even in times of tension, we are still committed to ensuring predictability and reducing the risk of armed conflict and the threat of nuclear war.”
When US President Biden and Russian President Putin met in Geneva last month, they agreed to resume the strategic dialogue between the two countries.
Price said, “Today’s talks in Geneva are the beginning of the resumption of dialogue with the Russian Federation.”
“The U.S. delegation discussed U.S. policy priorities, the current security environment, the country’s views on the threat of strategic stability, the prospects for new nuclear weapons control, and the format of the future strategic stability dialogue meeting.
The TASS news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying that he was satisfied with the consultations and the United States expressed its intention to hold a constructive dialogue during the talks.
Russian Satellite Radio quoted the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reported that the two sides had a “comprehensive discussion” on maintaining strategic stability, the prospects for arms control, and risk reduction measures.
Under the authorization of the leaders of the two countries, this is the first so-called “strategic stability talk” between the two sides in nearly a year. At present, the two sides have differences on a series of issues including arms control.
The United States and Russia control 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. The leaders of the two countries agreed last month to initiate a bilateral dialogue on strategic stability, aiming to “lay the foundation for future arms control and risk reduction measures.”
In January of this year, Russia approved a five-year extension of the agreement a few days before the expiration of the “New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty” between the two countries. The treaty limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy.
It is expected that the two sides will discuss which weapon systems and technologies are most worthy of attention.
The Russians have long insisted that it is impossible to have strategic stability without imposing restrictions on defensive and offensive weapons. There is no doubt that Russia will stick to missile defense as one of its future arms control arrangements.
On this issue, the Biden administration hopes that Russia will agree to restrict its so-called non-strategic nuclear weapons, which is not included in the framework of the new strategic arms reduction treaty. Some arms control experts believe that this provides the possibility for the two sides to reach a compromise on the issue of missile defense and non-strategic weapons.
Earlier, Biden made derogatory comments on Russia, and Putin’s spokesperson refuted this, prompting the two sides to express new hostility to each other during the talks on the 28th.
Biden told members of American intelligence agencies on the 27th that Putin “really ran into trouble” because the Russian economy “has nothing but nuclear weapons and oil wells.”
Biden pointed out, “He knew he was really in trouble, and in my opinion, it would make him even more dangerous.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded with angrily on the 28th, saying that Biden’s remarks were “inherently wrong” and were based on “a false perception and understanding of modern Russia.” He also pointed out that Biden made such a speech to the U.S. intelligence community, and that “the audience needs to hear this kind of statement that excites them.”
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