MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/. The joint statement of the five nuclear powers - Russia, China, the UK, the US and France - on preventing a nuclear war and avoiding arms races was the initiative of Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on Monday.

"This document was formulated on our initiative and with the most active participation of Russian representatives. Its release was supposed to coincide with the start of Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It had been scheduled to open in New York on January 4, but was postponed due to the worsening epidemiological situation in the United States. Nevertheless, given the importance and self-sufficiency of this joint statement, the nuclear powers decided not to delay its publication," the diplomat said.

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin published the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapons States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races.

According to Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes the agreement. She emphasized that Moscow strongly believes that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and that it must never be unleashed.

"We have consistently promoted the idea of reaffirming this principle by all nuclear P5 states," the diplomat added.

Zakharova pointed out that the joint statement of the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states complements and develops the bilateral statements previously adopted at the highest level with the US and China.

"The statement highlights an important idea for us that any war - whether nuclear or conventional - between nuclear-armed states is inadmissible. It also reaffirms the commitments, which were earlier made by the P5 countries, that their nuclear weapons are not targeted at each other or at any third countries," the diplomat said.

Additionally, the statement confirms the principle of dialogue within the Big Five based on mutual respect and recognition of security interests and concerns of each other, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

"We expect that amid the current challenging international security environment, the endorsement of such a political statement by the leaders of nuclear powers will help to reduce international tensions, curb the arms race, help build confidence and shape the basis for future control over offensive and defensive arms in their interconnection, as well as risk reduction measures," the statement says.