*MOSCOW: Russia has called off strategic talks with the US set for thismonth after a Washington delegation snubbed a meeting on cybersecurity,Moscow’s ambassador to the US told TASS news agency Friday.*
Anatoly Antonov said Washington’s last-minute pullout from talks in Genevaat the end of February was an “unfriendly step… that gave the impression ofhaving been pre-planned and leading to the further degradation of bilateralrelations.”
Because of this, Russia would find it “impossible” to go ahead with ameeting set for March 6 and 7 in Vienna aimed at addressing strategicstability and problems in the powers’ bilateral ties.
The move comes as Washington accuses Moscow of openly breaching Cold Warera treaties by developing what President Vladimir Putin on Thursday calleda new generation of “invincible” hypersonic weapons and submarines.
In a separate statement on Facebook, Antonov rejected the accusations ofthe US State Department.
“I will underline once again that Russia has not violated a single armscontrol and non-proliferation agreement while developing its nuclearpotential,” the ambassador said.
“It appears that the State Department does not know the substance of thematter very well,” he added, saying that none of the weapons mentioned inPutin’s military-heavy state of the nation address on Thursday were coveredby treaties between the US and the former Soviet Union.