US State Department Discusses Practical Issues to Implement START Treaty with Russia in Geneva

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US and Russian diplomats discussed practical issues for implementing the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) during consultations in Geneva, the State Department said in a press release.

"The eighteenth session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission under the US-Russia New START Treaty was held in Geneva from 6-13 November 2019", the release said on Thursday. "The US and Russian delegations continued the discussion of practical issues related to the implementation of the Treaty".

Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov expressed Moscow’s concerns about the lack of interest by the Trump administration in renewing the treaty, which expires in February 2021.

New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the United States. It stipulates that the number of strategic nuclear missiles launchers must be cut by half and limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550.