Russia and United States remain in contact over New START nuclear deal - official

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Friday said Russia and the United States remained in contact over the New START nuclear arms treaty despite Moscow having suspended its participation in the deal, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Ryabkov said he had no expectations for significant progress from contact between Moscow and Washington.

The 2010 agreement limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads each side can deploy. President Vladimir Putin announced last month that Moscow was suspending it, accusing the United States of trying to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia in Ukraine.