U.S. Offers to Hold Talks on the Question of Arms Control With Russia

The United States has offered to hold talks on arm control issues with Russia on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting in Beijing next week, a senior State Department official said on Thursday.

Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson told reporters the talks almost certainly would include a dispute over a Cold War-era treaty limiting intermediate-range missiles. Washington has pledged to withdraw from the pact because of what it charges is the deployment by Moscow of a new cruise missile that violates the treaty.