The US has invited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to a new round of talks on strategic stability, the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation reported following a meeting between Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Ford and Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov.
"Ford invited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to a new round of dialogue on strategic security, which was last held in January," the Bureau said in a statement.
The latest Russian-American consultations on strategic stability were held in Vienna on June 22-23, but the US was represented not by Ford, but by the US President's Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea. They discussed the extension of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) and maintaining stability and predictability in the context of the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. During the consultations, the parties confirmed the launch of the space working group and a number of others. According to Ryabkov, the next meeting with Billingslea may take place in late July or early August.
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Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti