Flag on the building of the US Embassy in Moscow. File photoWASHINGTON, Aug 22 US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that US sanctions do not prevent Russian specialists from conducting inspections at US facilities under the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (START). As clarified Price during a regular briefing, the US sanctions against the Russian Federation «are fully compatible with the implementation of the START and do not create obstacles for Russian specialists to carry out inspections on US territory under this agreement.» The high-ranking diplomat added that the United States will continue to interact with Russia through diplomatic channels in order to to achieve the resumption of START inspections. Earlier, the Russian Embassy in the United States said that Moscow and Washington are working to remove obstacles to the resumption of START inspections, which were suspended with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In a comment by the diplomatic mission on the situation with arms control , it was noted that lingering problems stem from unilaterally imposed anti-Russian restrictions by the United States. According to the embassy, the State Department's claims that sanctions do not prevent START inspections on American soil are «cunning.» The embassy indicated that Washington's allies closed their airspace for transit flights and technical stops of Russian aircraft delivering inspectors to the United States. Members of Russian inspection teams and flight crews are being hindered in obtaining transit visas, while the American side has none of these problems. to operational negotiations on an agreement to replace START-3
