Russia awaits U.S. response on nuclear arms talks

MOSCOW — Russia wants to sit down with Pentagon officials for “open and specific” talks on allegations of violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The U.S. alleges Russia is violating the INF treaty and on Dec. 4 issued an ultimatum that Moscow come into compliance with the accord in 60 days, or else Washington will withdraw.

Russia denies it’s in breach of the treaty.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu sent his counterpart, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, a plan for launching a dialogue three days ago, according to a statement Saturday.

But Russia said it hasn’t received any official reply from the Pentagon, which spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said proves that the U.S. is unwilling to maintain professional dialogue with Moscow on security issues.

On Friday, the Russian mission to the U.N. submitted a draft resolution calling for the international community to support the INF treaty against Washington’s threat of withdrawal, warning that a collapse of the treaty could undermine nuclear arms control across the board.

Washington began sounding off on a potential Russian violation of the INF treaty under President Barack Obama.

Under President Donald Trump, those allegations have been specified and coupled with threats of unilateral withdrawal from the landmark 1987 arms agreement, which banned an entire class of groundlaunched missiles with ranges between 310-3,100 miles.

The U.S. alleges that a new Russian missile, designated by NATO as the SSC-8, operates in ranges forbidden by the INF treaty.