Russia ready to work with U.S. on nuclear disarmament: minister

Moscow remains ready to continue working with Washington over nuclear missiles disarmament upon receiving clarification from the United States that accused Russia of breaking a treaty on the issue, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday.

"We have repeatedly told our U.S. colleagues that we are ready to continue a dialogue," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as saying.

However, the diplomat stressed that Moscow wants to find out first why the United States has been accusing Russia for alleged violation of the bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF).

Signed in 1987, the treaty asks for the elimination of nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles of intermediate ranges.

Ryabkov said the U.S. accusations "have no sufficient ground" and Moscow insists on rendering the bilateral treaty multilateral.

He accused Washington of attempting to undermine the INF, saying the two countries should not discuss the sensitive issue of nuclear disarmament in public, but leave the negotiation within the closed diplomatic realm.

Meanwhile, he said both Russia and the United States have obeyed the clauses of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as the New START, which came into force in February 2011.

Moscow is satisfied with the implementation of the New START, Ryabkov said, adding that it demonstrates that the two countries are capable of interacting responsibly even under very troubled circumstances. Endi