U.S. says it remains ready to meet with Russia over nuclear treaty talks

FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price speaks during a news conference in Washington, U.S. March 10, 2022. Manuel Balce Ceneta/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States remains ready to meet Russia for talks over a nuclear treaty despite Moscow having accused Washington of toxic anti-Russian behavior that it cited to pull out of the negotiations earlier this week, the State Department said.

Russia withdrew from the New START nuclear treaty talks with U.S. officials in Cairo this week. As the last surviving arms pact of its kind between the world's two biggest nuclear powers, New START limits the number of atomic warheads that each side can deploy and has symbolic as well as practical significance.