Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated on Sunday that negotiations on strategic nuclear arms reduction should not be limited to Moscow and Washington but should include other European countries.

Peskov emphasized that talks should first begin between Russia and the United States, but the arsenals of Britain and France must also be included in these negotiations.

Peskov’s remarks follow a Kremlin proposal this month to the United States to voluntarily extend for one year the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons stipulated by the New START arms control treaty after its expiration next year, if the US does the same.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Putin’s proposal sounds “very good,” but the decision rests with US President Donald Trump. The US president has expressed his desire to start nuclear disarmament talks with Russia and China.

Peskov told the Russian news agency TASS: “Naturally, we must start negotiations at the bilateral level. New START is ultimately a bilateral document. But in the long term, these arsenals (British and French) cannot be ignored. Especially since these arsenals are part of the broader issue of global European security and strategic stability.”

The New START treaty was signed by former US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, entered into force a year later, and was extended in 2021 for an additional five years after Joe Biden took office.

In 2023, Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty, but Moscow said it would continue to adhere to warhead limits.

This month, Putin offered to maintain the treaty limits while Ukraine tries to persuade Trump to impose tougher sanctions on Russia.

Russia and the United States possess the largest nuclear arsenals in the world by far, with New START setting the limit of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles – missiles, submarines, and bombers – at 700 for each side.

France and Britain, which were not parties to New START or its predecessors, have much smaller arsenals, with warhead counts ranging between 250 and 300 each.

Source: Reuters