Russia says United States broke off talks on strategic stability

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the United States had broken off talks with Russia on strategic dialogue, and that relations between Washington and Moscow would not be the same as before.

Officials from the two sides were set to meet in Cairo last November to discuss resuming inspections under the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, before the talks were scrapped at the last minute. Moscow accused Washington of refusing to discuss a broader agenda of "strategic stability" between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

Speaking in a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov also said former U.S. president Barack Obama was to blame for the start of a diplomatic row after he expelled 35 Russian diplomats following reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)