Kremlin says Russia and US need to 'update' strategic security dialogue

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russia and the United States will need to "update" their stances in the dialog on strategic security issues, Russian Presidential Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Friday commenting on media reports asserting that US President, Donald Trump, criticized the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) in his phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on January 28.

Peskov declined to comment on these reports. "I cannot confirm this," he said. "We told everything we believed was necessary after the telephone conversation. I have nothing more to add."

When asked about the prospects for extending this treaty after it expires, Peskov said. "That depends on the stance of our American partners and will require contacts on that score, so I would not outline any stances now. We had a break in the dialogue on strategic security issues, so we need some kind of updated information on the [the parties’] stances against the backdrop of this break."

Reuters earlier reported citing its own sources that, during his telephone conversation with Putin on January 28, Trump denounced the treaty known as New START. "Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia," Reuters said.

When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, Trump paused to ask his aides what the treaty was, according to the sources interviewed by Reuters.

The New START treaty was signed by the Russian and US presidents on April 8, 2010, in Prague. The treaty’s duration is ten years.