US Should Restore Relations With Russia Before Offering Nuke Talks

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament said that US should first rebuild the relationship with Russia destroyed by Obama, and then offer talks on nuclear weapons.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Washington should restore relations with Moscow before offering to negotiate the nuclear weapon issues, a senior Russian lawmaker said Thursday.

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama urged Russia to comply fully with its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and to negotiate the further reduction of the countries' nuclear weapon stockpiles. The call came ahead of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit scheduled to begin in Washington later on Thursday.

"US should first rebuild the relationship with Russia destroyed by Obama, and then offer us talks on nuclear weapons. Now his appeal is empty," Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, wrote on his Twitter.

США должны сперва восстановить разрушенные Обамой отн. с Россией, а потом уже предлагать нам переговоры по яд.оружию. Сейчас его призыв пуст

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) March 31, 2016

​The Russian Foreign Ministry has asserted as far back as November 2014 that Moscow would not take part in preparations for and the summit itself. In January, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated Moscow's intention to skip the summit due to "unacceptable" interference by organizers of the event in the work of international structures, including the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Relations between Washington and Moscow deteriorated amid the 2014 crisis in Ukraine.