Russia says ‘no progress’ on nuclear treaty ahead of deadline

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met US counterpart on sidelines of UN Security Council in Beijing

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Delegation members from the UN Security Council's five permanent members (P5) from left; Philip Barton of the United Kingdom, Andrea Thompson of the US, Nicolas Roche of France, Fu Cong of China, and Oleg Rozhkov of Russia attend a panel discussion after a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference in Beijing, China, Thursday. Photo: AP

Published: 5:20pm, 31 Jan 2019Updated: 5:20pm, 31 Jan 2019

Moscow and Washington have made “no progress” in talks on saving a key arms control treaty, a Russian diplomat said on Thursday, with the United States expected to begin withdrawal this weekend.

Russian and US officials had met on the sidelines of a meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beijing to discuss the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) – a source of raging tensions between Moscow and Washington.

“Unfortunately, there is no progress,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after talks with Andrea Thompson, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

The United States has warned that it will begin a six-month withdrawal process from the treaty on February 2 unless Russia destroys its 9M729 ground-based missile system, which it says breaches the cold war-era agreement.

US Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson, left, and Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Rozhkov, right, attends a panel discussion. Photo: AP

Ryabkov called the US position “rather tough, ultimatum-like” and “destructive”, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

“We have not made any progress. We state this not just with sorrow, but with deep concern for the fate of the treaty, for the fate of European and international security,” Ryabkov said.