The United States and Russia had their second meeting in Geneva, on Thursday, aimed at easing tensions between the world's largest nuclear weapons powers.
In high-level discussions in Geneva, the two countries, which hold 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, have agreed to set up two working groups, which will convene ahead of a third plenary meeting.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at a June summit in Geneva to embark on an integrated bilateral 'Strategic Stability Dialogue' to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
Later in July, delegations from the two nations restarted talks, the first time in nearly a year that the two had held so-called strategic stability talks amid frictions over a range of issues, including arms control.
The delegations, headed by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, agreed that the working groups would focus on principles and objectives for future arms control as well as capabilities and actions with strategic effects.
In the same vein, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters that Washington thought it was "a very productive meeting."
"Today the discussion was very interactive and broad-based, and we think we were able to cover a variety of issues," the administration official said, declining to provide specifics.
"I think this was a good building-on of the meeting that we had in July and both delegations really engaging in a detailed and dynamic exchange," the official added.
Follow the latest news on Google News
