Kremlin says Russia-US arms talks should have resumed ‘yesterday’

The Kremlin said Monday that arms-control talks between Russia and the United States were long overdue and would require lengthy, detailed negotiations if they resumed.

The Kremlin said Monday that arms-control talks between Russia and the United States were long overdue and would require lengthy, detailed negotiations if they resumed.

“This is such a complex issue that it requires very lengthy, painstaking expert negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the talks should have restarted “yesterday”.

Russia has repeatedly said it wants to restore its badly strained ties with the United States, but differences over the war in Ukraine have so far prevented a meaningful reset in relations, according to Reuters.

Peskov was responding to US President Donald Trump’s call for trilateral arms-control negotiations involving the United States, Russia and China during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington. The White House said Trump had advocated such negotiations during his talks with Xi.

Peskov said China had repeatedly made clear that it would not participate and that, as far as Moscow knew, its position had not changed.

Beijing has said its nuclear arsenal is far smaller than those of Russia and the United States, making its participation in such talks unnecessary.