US, Russia set to talk on resuming arms control inspections

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says the United States and Russia will soon hold talks on resuming suspended arms control inspections that had been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and languished after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. State Department spokesman Ned Price says negotiations on the inspections would take place “in the near future” under the terms of the New START treaty and would not include any discussion of the conflict in Ukraine. The meeting of the treaty’s so-called “Bilateral Consultative Commission” will be the first in more than a year and is intended to show that the two countries remain committed to arms control despite other differences. It will explore ways to resume the confidence-building inspections that have been on hiatus.