MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia sees a pressing need for security talks with the United States, but they must be “comprehensive” and include the topic of Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.
“It is impossible to tear out any individual segments from the general complex of accumulated problems, and we will not do this,” the Kremlin spokesman said. Dmitri Peskov he said when asked whether Moscow was ready to talk to Washington about nuclear risks.
“Therefore, we are open to dialogue, but to a broad and comprehensive dialogue that covers all dimensions, including the current dimension related to the conflict around Ukraine, related to the direct US involvement in this conflict,” Peskov told journalists.
The United States rejects Russia’s claim that, by arming Ukraine, it has become a direct protagonist in a war aimed at inflicting a crushing “strategic defeat” on Moscow. The US says any war talks are a Ukrainian matter.
The Russian position, as outlined by Peskov, is not new. But he told reporters that the list of issues Russia and the United States needed to discuss was growing.
“Overall, this dialogue is very necessary,” Peskov said. “It is necessary because problems are piling up and there are many problems associated with the global security architecture.”
From Washington’s point of view, it is Putin who, in the third year of war in Ukraine, adds to the list of security concerns.
This week he visited nuclear-armed North Korea, signed a mutual defense agreement with its leader Kim Jong Un and said he could supply North Korea with Russian weapons in response to Western arming of Ukraine.
Putin also reiterated on Thursday that he was considering reviewing Russia’s doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons. The last arms control treaty limiting the number of strategic nuclear warheads that Russia and the United States can use is set to expire in 2026.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Andrew Osborn)
