Kremlin warns of ‘extremely dangerous’ vacuum of nuclear arms control

Moscow and Washington urgently need to resume talks on a new framework for strategic stability, Dmitry Peskov has said Russia and the US urgently need to resume dialogue on strategic stability and arms control, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

The absence of a treaty-based framework in this areas is creating a very dangerous situation, he added.

The New START treaty, the last remaining bilateral agreement limiting US and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals, expired in February without an extension or replacement.

Signed in 2010 and extended in 2021, the treaty capped each side at 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 deployed delivery systems, while providing for transparency and on-site verification measures.

Following the treaty’s expiration, Russia suggested maintaining caps on warheads for another year if Washington reciprocated, but the initiative went unanswered, according to Moscow.

Russia is convinced that talks must resume urgently, Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

“This is an extremely important issue,” he said.

“For the first time in a long while, the world has been left without this treaty-based legal framework.” He described the situation as “extremely dangerous.” Read more Pentagon drafting nuclear strategy for potential war with Russia and China – NBC Peskov urged an early start to negotiations, warning that they would inevitably be complex and lengthy.

President Donald Trump’s administration has long insisted that any future nuclear arms control agreement should include China as well.

In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio maintained that Washington would be pressing for trilateral talks with Beijing and Moscow.

On Monday, Trump said he was open to discussing nuclear disarmament at a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China.

“We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization,” he told reporters.

“If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it.

I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade too.” Peskov stressed that Moscow could not disregard the nuclear arsenals of European NATO members, particularly Britain and France, in future strategic stability talks with Washington.