(Bloomberg) --

Five global nuclear powers held a two-day meeting in Dubai early this month to discuss nuclear non-proliferation issues, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported, citing unidentified officials. 

Working groups from the US State Department and the foreign ministries of the UK, France, China and Russia met on Feb. 2-3 for the longest discussion of the issues since the last full-fledged conference held in December 2021 in Paris. 

While there are no details of the talks or their outcome, the five-party meeting took place even as the US and Russia have failed to agree on scheduling consultations on the New START arms-limitation treaty. 

The State Department last week said Russia was breaching the terms of the treaty by refusing to allow inspectors on its territory and stonewalling US efforts to discuss the issue. Russia said the consultations can’t be resumed because the US is supplying Ukraine with weapons. 

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