Progress on the Ukraine conflict could pave the way for strategic arms dialogue, the Russian president has said
Russia and the US could reach a deal on strategic nuclear arms if the two sides make progress on resolving the Ukraine conflict, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Anchorage, Alaska.
The New START treaty, the only remaining nuclear arms control accord between the two countries, was suspended by Moscow in 2023 over obstacles to inspections and Western military participation in the Ukraine conflict.
”If we move to the next stages and reach agreements in the field of strategic offensive arms control, this will create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, in Europe, and in the world as a whole,” Putin said.
In force since 2011, the treaty limits the US and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and provides for mutual inspections to verify compliance.
Russia suspended its participation in the treaty, which expires next February, in 2023. Putin said Moscow’s requests to visit certain sites were either ignored or rejected on “formal grounds.” He also pointed to the West being “directly involved” in Kiev’s attempts to strike Russian strategic bomber bases.
Moscow has stressed, however, that it intends to abide by the New START provisions.
Trump said in July that he would like to maintain the limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals. “That’s not an agreement you want expiring. We’re starting to work on that,” the US president said.
Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia and the US are not holding any talks on a New START treaty extension, citing the deplorable state of relations between the two countries caused by the policies of the administration of former US President Joe Biden.
