United States, Russia hold arms talks with little sign of accord

VIENNA: The United States and Russia held talks in Vienna on Monday on their only remaining major nuclear weapons accord with little prospect of imminent agreement, as critics questioned whether either side saw value in arms control.

US President Donald Trump has previously insisted China should be involved in discussions to extend New START, the treaty that limits US and Russian nuclear warheads, because he says Beijing has had a free pass to develop weapon systems.

The current treaty limits each side to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads.

China has shown no interest, giving Washington more cause for complaint – although critics say the US finds it a useful stick to beat its growing rival.

After a full day of talks at the Niederoesterreich Palace in the Austrian capital, the Russian foreign ministry said only that “discussions on prospects for arms control continued, including the question of extending the New Start treaty and maintaining stability”.

US envoy to the talks Marshall Billingslea said on Monday evening that the talks had been “very positive”.

There had been “detailed discussions” on a “full range of nuclear topics”, he tweeted, without going into detail.

Billingslea added that there was “agreement in principle” between the two sides on holding a second round of talks.

Daryl Kimball of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said before the talks that the Trump administration’s focus on China showed that it was not serious about an accord.

“The only conclusion I can come to is that... the Trump administration (does) not intend to extend New START and is seeking to display China’s disinterest in trilateral arms control talks as a cynical excuse to allow New START to expire,” Kimball said.

Trump has already scrapped several treaties with Russia – on overflights and on intermediaterange nuclear forces.