Moscow and Washington have made “no progress” in talks on saving a key arms control treaty, a Russian diplomat said on Thursday, with the United States expected to begin withdrawal this weekend.

Russian and US officials had met on the sidelines of a meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beijing to discuss the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) — a source of raging tensions between Moscow and Washington.

“Unfortunately, there is no progress,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after talks with Andrea Thompson, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

The United States has warned that it will begin a six-month withdrawal process from the treaty on February 2 unless Russia destroys its 9M729 ground-based missile system, which it says breaches the Cold War-era agreement.

Ryabkov called the US position “rather tough, ultimatum-like” and “destructive,” state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

“We have not made any progress. We state this not just with sorrow, but with deep concern for the fate of the treaty, for the fate of European and international security,” Ryabkov said.

Last week the Russian military displayed the nuclear-capable 9M729 missile system to the media and foreign military officials in an attempt to prove the weapon does not violate the treaty.

Russia says the missile’s maximum range is 480 kilometers (300 miles) and within the allowed range.

Source: AFP