The United States has not approached Russia in order to resume talks on a document to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a news conference following talks with his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin.

“They [the US] have not even suggested resuming these talks. There have been no appeals to us about resuming the negotiation process,” Lavrov said. According to the minister, the Americans have made a habit of “announcing some things over the microphone and then forgetting about them.”

When asked whether Russia was also ready to invite China to the talks if the process was resumed, Lavrov said that Beijing would then make its own decision. “When and if that happens, it will be up to China itself to decide whether to join these talks, the Americans know our position perfectly well,” the minister pointed out.

Source: Agencies