Medvedev Says Russia-US Relationship Currently Null, Should Not Be Resumed Yet

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The current state of relations between Russia and the United States corresponds to the lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale, which is absolute zero, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, said in an interview with Sputnik on Monday.

"We do not have any relations with the US now. They are at zero kelvin, and there is no need to unfreeze them today. And there is no need to negotiate with [the US] yet. It is harmful for Russia," Medvedev said.

It is also premature to consider new negotiations with the US on extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) has not yet come.

"It will depend on the decision of President [Vladimir Putin]. I, for my part as a person who was directly related to the New START and signed it in 2010, consider the timing for new negotiations the worst possible now," Medvedev added.

New START, or formally the Russia-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, is the only remaining arms control pact between the world's two largest nuclear powers, set to expire in 2026. Moscow and Washington started negotiating a future pact, but talks were put on hold this year at the US initiative after Russia started the military operation in Ukraine in February.

In early June, the US State Department said it could consider resuming the negotiation if Moscow demonstrates good faith and more transparency about its nuclear arsenal.