The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:
On July 18, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, accompanied by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson and National Security Council Senior Director Tim Morrison visited NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium to provide a readout to the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of their recent Strategic Security Dialogue with Russian government officials in Geneva.
The dialogue is a continuation of U.S. and Russian discussions on a broad range of strategic security issues. During the briefing to the NAC, the Deputy Secretary underscored the importance of modernizing nuclear arms control in line with the President’s vision for a new direction. While the United States clearly underscored concerns about Russia’s development and deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons and lack of transparency, it also affirmed its intent to continue engagement with Russia, as appropriate, on security and arms-control issues and to keep Allies informed of these discussions.
The Deputy Secretary acknowledged the importance of the Transatlantic alliance as we look toward NATO’s 70th anniversary.