US says Russia abruptly postpones arms control talks

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says Russia has abruptly postponed the scheduled resumption of arms control talks this week. The State Department said Monday that Russia had “unilaterally postponed” a meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission that was scheduled to begin Tuesday in Egypt. The commission hammers out details of U.S. and Russian inspections of each others’ military sites under the terms of the New START treaty, the last major arms control pact between Washington and Moscow. It has not met in more than a year, initially because of the COVID-19 pandemic but has since languished due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The meeting in Cairo had been aimed at showing the two sides remain committed to arms control and keeping open lines of communication despite other differences.