Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister in charge of ties with the U.S., non-proliferation and arms control, told the Izvestia daily that present circumstances were not "conducive" to arms talks with Washington.
"If the United States expects to win the next arms race, repeating to some extent the experience of the presidency of Ronald Reagan ... then the Americans are mistaken," Izvestia cited Ryabkov as saying.
Russia's ties with many Western countries deteriorated after its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, with Moscow now saying it is fighting what it calls the "collective West" in Ukraine.
Ryabkov reiterated Russia's position that Moscow was not threatening a military conflict with NATO, but said a possible escalation depended on the action of the alliance.
"The situation is not conducive to exchanging signals (on arms controls), even on such key issues," Ryabkov said.
Persons:
Sergei Ryabkov, Vladimir Putin, Ronald Reagan, Izvestia, Ryabkov, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates
Organizations:
Sputnik, NATO, U.S, Washington, Thomson
Locations:
Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Moscow, United, Washington, Russian, Melbourne