Kuala Lumpur/Geneva Feb 27 (IANS) Russia's position on the agreement with the United States on the reduction of strategic offensive weapons, which expires in February 2026, has remained unchanged, Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.
"Any mechanism requires supervision and repair, or maintenance. In this case, this mechanism is so complex that it requires constant attention and care. Naturally, when they enter this mechanism with a crowbar and try to regulate it with inappropriate tools, this leads to failures. This issue relates, among other things, to security under the agreement on strategic nuclear forces, which will expire in a year. What next? Extend it, make a new one? There are many issues here that need to be resolved with the new US administration. Our position here is clear and understandable. We outlined it back under the previous Biden administration, which extended it for another five years. The five years expire in a year, so this is one of the problems, " Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying by Russia's Tass news agency following a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, speaking to RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin expressed Moscow's willingness to start dialogue on multilateral agreements on disarmament and arms control.
"But, it requires very careful and full-time work. And most importantly, the constructive attitude of partners to each other on the basis of understanding the need for respect for each other in the interests of ensuring strategic stability, " he cautioned.
Earlier, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov said that Washington is not ready to resume serious discussions with Russia on nuclear disarmament.
The Russia-US New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) expires on February 5, 2026 and until recently no discussions have been held regarding the prospects for further dialogue on strategic weapons, Russian media reported.
However, US President Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to hold a tripartite summit with Russia and China on the issue. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said "The meeting I want to have first is a meeting with China and a meeting with Russia on slowing down, stopping and reducing nuclear weapons, in particular."
He further added, "We already have so many. You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over, and here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they're building nuclear weapons, and China's building nuclear weapons."
Trump further proposed that all three nations can reduce their military spendings to half. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently supported the proposal and said both the US and Russia could reduce the defence budget by 50 per cent, and China can join later, if it wants.