© Glan Johnson/Zuma/TASS

The session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (DCC) on the New START treaty between Russia and the United States scheduled for November 29-December 6 in Cairo has been suddenly postponed. According US Embassy in Moscow, "the Russian side has informed the United States that it has unilaterally postponed the meeting, and stated that it will propose new dates." In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry did confirm the deferment of consultations.

The meeting was planned to feature discussion of the sides’ mutual claims under this key bilateral security agreement, primarily resuming inspections. Meanwhile, many observers pinned certain hopes on the Cairo negotiations. The postponed DCC meeting – first one since Russian embarked upon its special military operation in Ukraine – would demonstrate that, despite their full-throated confrontation, Russia and the United States are ready to discuss issues within areas of common interest, particularly as regards control over strategic nuclear weapons.

The fact of the Russian-American meeting being contemplates has been repeatedly disclosed by Russian and American officials in September and October this year. In particular, it could have been unprecedentedly held in one of the Middle Eastern cities. Earlier, events of the kind used to place in Geneva. However, Moscow dissuaded from Switzerland’s neutrality after it embraced most anti-Russian sanctions, and would prefer to abstain from using its territory in any way.

As a result, Cairo became a new venue for the meeting, and the Russian delegation should have been headed by Deputy Director of the Nonproliferation and Arms Control Department Vladimir Leontiev. The new date is still unclear, be it noted. But given the importance of issues to be discussed, both sides claim it will certainly take place, with the timing to be reconsidered.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the following on November 30: “Moscow highly appreciates the New START Treaty, which meets the mutual interests of Russia and the US, but appropriate conditions must be in place to discuss it.” In this regard, Russia intends to wait until Washington stops shoveling Kiev with weapons.

"The United States is planning to send more weapons to the region of the conflict in which Russia has been involved. So, they will keep supplying all those arms and goad the Kiev regime into committing more bloodshed, while allocating funds for extremist activities conducted under the authority of individuals on Bankovaya Streat who are far from being rational people, while we sit down to discuss mutual security issues with them, including those in their interests?" she wondered.

In turn, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Vladimir Yermakov believes that a real dialogue with the United States on strategic stability is possible if the US is an adequate partner ready not to cross Moscow's red lines in the field of security. Russia indicated those back in December 2021 and sent relevant letters to the United States and NATO, but never got an answer. After that, February 24 saw Moscow decide to walk the talk.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has given thorough and traditionally motivated comments on the Russian side’s refusal to hold START consultations in Cairo. According to him, the United States did not want to acknowledge Russia’s priorities and signals, leaving Moscow no choice but to cancel the bilateral commission’s meeting. Besides, he stressed, the parties also failed to fully agree upon its program.

"We have encountered a situation where our American colleagues not only demonstrated a lack of desire to take note of our signals, acknowledge our priorities, but also acted in the opposite way. We haven’t fully agreed on the program of the bilateral consultative commission. That wasn’t a key component, perhaps, it’s some technicality, but it also represents a lot of political sense," Ryabkov said.

The diplomat added that Moscow’s decision to cancel the meeting was a political one: "The situation was developing in the way that left us no choice. The decision was made on the political level." According to him, Moscow knows that Washington is only interested in resuming inspections under the START Treaty and demonstrates no willingness to move further in areas Russia deems immediate along this track.

"We saw, up to the moment when the postponement of the session was announced and after it became public, the focus by the Americans exclusively on the topic of resuming inspections under the New START. Meanwhile, for us, the priority has been and remains the solution of other issues," the Deputy Minister said. "We have repeatedly explained our position and the essence of our claims to Washington: against the background of deep disagreements — not just in our priorities, but in our values also — we did not see the slightest will from the American side to move further in this direction."

Ryabkov also said Moscow would offer new timing for the meeting in a while. " We will offer new dates to the Americans some time later. However, that won't happen immediately, all at once," the deputy minister said.

According to the diplomat, Russia considered it important to send a political message as regards the postponed session. "Major issues that dominate our agenda with the United States today are more important than the technical or mechanical aspects of efforts as part of the START Treaty. This is how things look now," Sergey Ryabkov concluded.