WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. security officer has called on Russia to resume negotiations to further reduce nuclear arsenals.
White House national security adviser Susan Rice made the call February 5, on the fifth anniversary of the last arms control treaty to be signed between the two nuclear powers, called New START.
The deal, signed by President Barack Obama and then-President Dmitry Medvedev, put a cap of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed delivery vehicles for both sides.
"[We] continue to call on Russia to answer the president's invitation five years ago to begin talks on further reductions to our nuclear arsenals," Rice said in a statement.
With tensions between Moscow and Washington at lows not seen since the Cold War, it's unlikely that the two sides would be willing to open negotiations or reach a new deal.
Russia and the United States also have major disagreements over other key arms control agreements, such as the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.
