Moscow considers dialogue between Russia and the US on nuclear disarmament necessary; the UK and France should take part in such negotiations as well, especially after Macron's statement about the possible protection of EU countries with French nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
A dialogue between Russia and the US on nuclear disarmament is necessary both from the perspective of national interests and international security, said Peskov, commenting on US President Donald Trump's statement about his desire to start denuclearization talks with Moscow.
Russia also believes that European nuclear powers – the UK and France in the first place – should take part in the negotiations, particularly in light of French President Emmanuel Macron's recent statement about his willingness to discuss the possible protection of other European countries with France's nuclear arsenal, Peskov added.
"It is impossible to exclude European nuclear arsenals from this dialogue. We remain convinced of this, and it is even more relevant now than before, especially given Mr. Macron's recent statement about France's intention to provide a nuclear umbrella for the security of European states. Some European countries, as we heard yesterday, were quick to support this idea. Therefore, indeed, European nuclear arsenals must be part of the discussion in such negotiations," the Kremlin spokesperson said.
Before Macron's statement, in February, leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, had advocated negotiations with France and the UK on "nuclear protection" amid concerns about a potential US troop withdrawal from Europe.
According to Trump, it "would be great" if "we all," including China, got rid of nuclear weapons. Peskov noted that Beijing's stance on this issue remains unknown, as there have been no discussions on nuclear disarmament between Russia, the US, and China so far.
"We have good relations with China, which we are developing and maintaining dialogue on all strategic stability issues. We will continue expanding this dialogue. The Americans have their own relations with China, and they must take Beijing's position into account. So far, there have been no concrete negotiations, and there is no understanding of when such talks might take place," Peskov said.
In mid-February, Trump stated that he wanted to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about the need to cut military spending and control nuclear weapons.
According to Trump, that money could be used for other things, which, hopefully, would be much more productive. There is no reason to spend nearly $1 trillion on military needs, Donald Trump believes.
Putin supported Trump's idea of cutting Russia's and USA's defense spending by 50 percent. This is a positive proposal, Putin noted, adding that China's defense budget was a matter for Beijing to decide. Peskov emphasized that nuclear disarmament agreements between Russia and the US are in the interest of the entire world. He reiterated that Moscow is open to such dialogue, but "the ball is in the Americans' court."
According to last year's estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia and the US account for about 90 percent of the world's nuclear arsenal, while China has significantly expanded its stockpiles.