MOSCOW, Oct 2 (The African Portal) – Moscow and Washington sustain contact at the level of administrations but US President Donald Trump has not yet reacted to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s proposal to preserve the restrictions set in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“In fact, communication is ongoing but there has been no response yet [to the New START proposal],” he said.
Peskov clarified that talks were underway “in general:” “There are channels for dialogue, which remain open.”
Putin announced at a Russian Security Council meeting on September 22 that Moscow was ready to maintain compliance with the quantitative restrictions provided for in the treaty for another year after the document expired next February. However, he stressed that the measure would be valid only if Washington did the same.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS that Moscow was still awaiting a reply from US President Donald Trump. A White House official said the US leader would make a statement on the issue but this has not yet occurred.
Credit: TASS
