China News Agency, Moscow, August 8 (Tian Bing and Liu Jingyao) The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 8th saying that the Russian side had formally notified the United States through diplomatic channels that day to temporarily withdraw from the national facilities under inspection under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. .

　　The statement stated that according to the relevant provisions of the treaty, Russia was forced to take this measure because the U.S. side has been trying to create a unilateral advantage for it to restart inspections in disregard of the current reality, which has actually deprived Russia of inspections on U.S. territory. s right.

　　The statement pointed out that Russia's goal is to eliminate this unacceptable situation and ensure that all mechanisms of the treaty operate strictly in accordance with the principle of reciprocity and equality of all parties.

Due to the U.S. manipulating and taking anti-Russian unilateral sanctions, normal air traffic between Russia and the U.S. was interrupted, the airspace of U.S. allies and their partner countries was closed to Russia, and Russian inspectors could not enter the United States.

But at the same time, there is no similar obstacle to the arrival of US inspectors in Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised this question to the countries concerned, but has not received a reply.

In addition, due to the visa restrictions imposed by relevant countries on Russia, it is difficult for Russian inspectors and crew members to go to the United States to obtain visas for possible transit countries.

In the absence of a solution to all these issues, it is premature to resume the inspection activities that the US insists on.

　　Russia looks forward to continuing to work closely with the U.S., the statement said.

The Russian side is in favor of considering the resumption of the inspection activities stipulated in the treaty from a practical standpoint.

In view of the new crown epidemic, it is still difficult to carry out this activity.

Up to now, the scale of the epidemic and the risk of transmission have not been significantly reduced, and the infection rate in the United States has recently increased again.

The most important thing for Russia is to protect the health and safety of Russian personnel conducting inspections on U.S. soil, as well as the health and safety of U.S. personnel inspecting on Russian soil.

　　The statement stated that under the current circumstances, all parties should abandon the attempt to artificially force the resumption of inspection work, and concentrate on thoroughly studying the existing problems.

　　The statement stressed that the measures taken by the Russian side are temporary.

After the existing problems are resolved, the relevant measures announced by the Russian side will be cancelled immediately and the implementation will be fully resumed.

　　The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed by the United States and Russia in 2010 and entered into force in 2011 with a validity period of 10 years.

After the US-Russia "Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty" expired in 2019, this treaty became the only arms control treaty between the two countries.

In 2021, Russia and the United States agreed to extend the treaty until 2026.

Russia and the United States had already begun negotiations on a future nuclear weapons limitation treaty, but the talks were interrupted after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine this year.

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