Kremlin-Signals Of New START Talks w/US, But No Significant Progress

Wires reporting comments from Kremlin spox Dmitri Peskov stating that, "There are 'signals' about a resumption of New START Treaty talks with the US, but no significant progress."

• Under the New START Treaty the US is entitled to 18 on-site inspections per year to verify arms reduction levels, and Russia vice versa. However, inspections have been suspended by Russia 'temporarily' according to the Kremlin due to Russian inspectors not being allowed to travel to the US for reciprocal inspections according to Moscow.
• Resuming talks on renewing the treaty are seen as essential, given its upcoming expiration in 2026. Without New START in place, there would be no treaty in place limiting the amount of nuclear warheads each country could hold in its stockpile. The treaty was extended by five years in February 2021, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Given the major deterioration in Russo-Western relations since then, the process of renewing New START seen as much more difficult.
• Peskov also speaks on upcoming G20 leaders' summit in Indonesia saying that the format of President Vladimir Putin's participation is "undecided", so remains unclear if he will attend in person.