Dialogue with the US is necessary, but the arsenals of Americas European allies cannot be ignored, Dmitry Peskov has said

Moscow is ready to discuss arms control with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, after US President Donald Trump called for nuclear disarmament among world powers.

Peskov told journalists on Friday that strategic stability and nuclear disarmament are topics on Moscow's agenda, stating that dialogue between Russia and the US on arms control "is necessary." He added that these discussions would benefit not just the two nations, but international security in general.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said, "it would be great if we could all denuclearize." He noted that the US and Russia currently possess the largest nuclear arsenals, while China could reach similar levels in four to five years.

However, Moscow believes that talks should include not only the US, Russia, and China, but European nuclear powers - France and the UK - as well. "It is impossible to just overlook European nuclear arsenals in this dialogue," the Kremlin spokesman said, pointing to recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, the French leader called Russia a "threat to France and Europe," and announced that he is considering expanding France's nuclear umbrella to cover other EU member states. In response, Moscow accused Macron of having aggressive intentions against Russia.

Macron wants to "defeat Russia" and calls it a threat for this very reason, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. Moscow considers Macron's statement about widening France's nuclear umbrella to be a "threat," he added.

Regarding China's position on nuclear disarmament, Peskov said it remains to be seen, as Moscow and Beijing have not yet discussed it.

Trump is "getting too far ahead of himself" with the idea of total nuclear disarmament, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, told Russia 24 TV on Thursday. The destruction of all nuclear arsenals is "off the table at the moment," he said, adding that "certain reductions, some control measures would be... understandable."

In January, the US announced the deployment of upgraded nuclear bombs in its bases in Europe. According to media reports, the Pentagon also plans to station nuclear weapons in the UK. Moscow has repeatedly urged all nations to act responsibly when it comes to nuclear weapons as there can be no winners in a nuclear war.

(RT.com)