Taarifa has reliably learned that Russia and the United States are scheduled to resume negotiations on nuclear arms reduction next week.
This time the talks will not be held in Geneva but could take place in an unnamed Middle Eastern country according to the Russian Kommersant business daily.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) talks will be the first face-to-face contact since Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
The Kommersant business daily also stated that the talks will take place in late November or early December. The Kommersant published in Russia is mostly devoted to politics and business.
According to analysts, the US is concerned that President Vladimir Putin could actually strike Ukraine with Nukes.
According to Kommersant, Washington is expected to raise the resumption of on-site inspections under New START.
Moscow formally suspended physical inspections by the U.S. in August 2022 after President Joe Biden called on Russia and China to demonstrate their commitment to limiting nuclear weapons.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry indicated at the time that Western sanctions, visa restrictions and airspace closures over the war in Ukraine made it difficult for Moscow to carry out inspections on U.S. soil.
New START, caps the number of deployable nuclear warheads at 1,550, until Feb. 5, 2026.
