VIENNA, November 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will not consider itself bound by decisions adopted at the Washington summit on nuclear security without its participation, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has told RIA Novosti.
"We will not consider ourselves tied by obligations that are worked out without our participation. It doesn't matter if somebody wants these decisions to become universal, they would have to go to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and other organizations and take the regular path. There is no other way," Ryabkov said Thursday.
"We would like to avoid situations where these kinds of privately generated solutions become directives," Ryabkov added.
On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Moscow was not planning to attend preparatory meetings for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Chicago. According to the ministry, Russia informed its US colleagues of the decision in mid-October.
The ministry said in a statement that the summit suffered from various shortcomings, including discrimination against all participants, except for the host countries of previous and upcoming summits, such as the United States.
According to the statement, Russia plans to strengthen nuclear security cooperation within the framework of the IAEA instead of focusing on the Nuclear Security Summit in Chicago.
