Russia accuses U.S. of 'provocative' weapons inspection move

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends a meeting of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Moscow, Russia March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow accused the United States on Tuesday of "unreasonable and unnecessary escalation" in announcing an inspection on Russian territory under the New START nuclear arms reduction pact, knowing that it would not let Russia carry out reciprocal inspections.

Russia had said on Monday that it would not allow its weapons to be inspected under the treaty for the time being because of travel restrictions imposed by Washington and its allies.