Russia says main chance for dialogue with US is on arms

MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that strategic security issues, including space-based weapons, were the main potential area for dialogue with the United States.

The US plans to put a resolution to the United Nations Security Council next week to ban the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, two months after US sources said Washington had new intelligence related to Russian nuclear capabilities and attempts to develop a space-based weapon - something Moscow has flatly denied.

Asked about the draft resolution, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The main potential area for dialogue between the United States and Russia is issues related to strategic security, which includes the space issue.”

Relations between the two countries have plunged to what the Kremlin has called “below zero” since Russia launched its war in Ukraine in 2022 and the United States stepped up its supply of aid, weapons, training and intelligence to Kyiv.

Russia and the US, by far the biggest nuclear powers, have both expressed regret about the disintegration of arms control treaties that sought to slow the Cold War arms race and reduce the risk of nuclear war. The last treaty that limits both sides’ numbers of strategic nuclear warheads is due to expire in 2026.

President Vladimir Putin insists Moscow will only discuss arms control as part of a broader package of issues relating to Russia’s security, including its concerns about Nato enlargement and Western support for Ukraine.