United States and Russia discuss defense and disarmament issues

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Acting Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller have discussed missile defense and disarmament issues in London, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Missile defense issues “were considered thoroughly,” the ministry said in a statement. “Special attention was given to the outlook for the continuation of bilateral dialogue on a range of issues related to strategic stability.”
Other issues included US-Russian collaboration on arms control and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the ministry said.

Ryabkov and Gottemoeller met Tuesday as co-chairs of a working group on arms control and international security at the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission.
Last Wednesday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said that recent missile defense talks between Russian and NATO military officials had reached an impasse.