The Kremlin has said that the nuclear arsenal of the UK and France will eventually be included in the framework of global nuclear dismantling negotiations.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that first of all, reducing the number of strategic weapons needs to be discussed at the bilateral level between Russia and the US, because the New START treaty is a bilateral document.
Mr. Peskov emphasized that in the long term, these arsenals cannot be ignored because they are part of the problem of European security and stabilizing the global strategy. According to him, negotiations need to move towards a broader framework, rather than being limited to the two major countries.
The New START Treaty was signed in 2010 between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, effective in 2011 and extended in 2021 under US President Joe Biden. The treaty limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed to 1,550 and the means of transport to 700 for each side. Russia and the US still have the world's largest nuclear arsenal.
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of New START participation, but Moscow insists it will still adhere to the limit on the number of warheads.
Recently, Mr. Putin proposed maintaining the limited terms for one year after the treaty expires, provided that Washington does the same.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Mr. Putin's proposal is "quite reasonable", but the final decision depends on US President Donald Trump, who expressed his desire to open seizure negotiations with both Russia and China.
Meanwhile, the UK and France, which have never joined treaties like the New START, now have smaller arsenals, estimated at 250 to 300 warheads per country.
