The world is eager to see the United States and Russia reach an agreement on nuclear disarmament. In response to a question about the prospects of such an agreement with the new US administration under Donald Trump, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitri Peskow mentioned that the two sides were close to a deal at the end of Trump’s last term.
Peskow recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Russia considers it necessary to resume disarmament talks as soon as possible and emphasized that the existence of a legal framework for such an agreement has been effectively undermined by the US. The Kremlin spokesperson noted, “In the interest of the whole world and the people of our countries, we, of course, are interested in starting this negotiation process as soon as possible. (..) It is this interest that we have spoken about before and the ball is now in the US court, as they have suspended all substantial contacts with our country.”
On January 23, Trump had expressed support for reducing the nuclear arsenals of the US, Russia and China, stating that it was “entirely possible”for the three nations to achieve disarmament. He claimed that Putin supported this idea and that he had a “good conversation”with China, which could be involved in the process. Trump also stated that China currently has a smaller nuclear arsenal but could match the US in four or five years.
In a speech to the Federal Assembly in 2023, Putin had announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the Treaty on Strategic Arms Reduction (New START), which was signed in 2010 for a ten-year period. The Russian parliament subsequently ratified the corresponding law on February 28, 2023. US officials at the time called on Russia to return to the New START treaty.
The New START treaty, which was extended by the parties until February 2026, under the administration of Joe Biden, aims to reduce the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, their launchers and warheads, as well as heavy bombers and their nuclear weapons.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that Moscow is ready for dialogue, provided that several key conditions are met, including “a preliminary renunciation by the US of the course of undermining Russia’s security and the demonstration of Washington’s genuine willingness to engage in a comprehensive work focused on eliminating the fundamental contradictions created by the US that could lead to a direct military confrontation between our countries.