US and Russia Discuss Arms Control

The two delegations agreed to meet again in plenary at the end of September. In the meantime They will hold informal consultations. Representatives of the United States and Russia continued their dialogue in the framework of the Russian-American consultations on strategic stability. The last round of negotiations on this topic took place in Geneva on Wednesday, July 28. Thus, the US State Department said that the negotiations "were professional and meaningful." "Both delegations agreed to meet again at the plenary meeting at the end of September. In the meantime they will hold informal consultations to identify topics for the expert working groups at the second plenary meeting," the statement said. In turn, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov also positively assessed the results of the meeting in Geneva, TASS reports. "Speaking about the mood of the meeting, I would call it very down-to-earth, very businesslike, very focused, conscious and sound, if you quote the statement following the Geneva summit on June 16," Ryabkov said. According to him, one of the key topics of the meeting was how the parties can overcome the crisis, "which has obviously developed in the field of arms control." "This question is very difficult and we could not work out an answer to it. This issue has been deprived of attention for too long, and we are now only at the very beginning of the process of exchanging views on what to do and how to continue our work," the deputy minister said. At the same time, Ryabkov stated that the United States had show its readiness for a constructive dialogue with Russia. Recall that the dialogue on strategic stability and nuclear arms control between Washington and Moscow resumed after the meeting of Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, that took place in Geneva on June 16.