Amid tensions, US and Russia hold ‘substantive’ arms talks

The meeting between top diplomats led to no breakthroughs, although the two sides have agreed to meet again in September.

Senior diplomats from the United States and Russia held what the US State Department described as “substantive and professional” talks on arms control and other strategic issues on Wednesday amid other differences that have sent relations into a tailspin. The discussions between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov at the US diplomatic mission in Geneva produced no breakthroughs. But the State Department said the two agreed on another high-level round of talks in late September. “We remain committed, even in times of tension, to ensuring predictability and reducing the risk of armed conflict and threat of nuclear war,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.