MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Alongside banishing the nuclear factor from world politics other positive shifts must be achieved for the sake of universal political stability, the head of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, said in the wake of the joint statement by five nuclear powers.

"The statement that a nuclear war cannot be won and for that reason it must never be fought is important and reaffirms the conclusion voiced by [the first Soviet President, Mikhail] Gorbachev and [US President Ronald] Reagan in Reykjavik at the end of last century. It is to be hoped that the nuclear powers will adhere to this policy further on," Kortunov said. "At the same time it should be remembered that the problem of international security is not confined the risk nuclear weapons might be used. Likewise it is essential to avoid getting back into the pre-nuclear era, which was by no means an optimal one from the standpoint of security. It is essential to ensure that alongside the removal of the nuclear factor from politics some other shifts should take place in favor of greater strategic stability."

For this, the nuclear quintet must hold a summit in order to forge an agreement not only on nuclear weapons, but on a wider range of issues concerning international security.

"Before any meeting of the quintet may take place, though, some agreement must be concluded between the United States and Russia, because these two countries have the most significant nuclear potentials and bear special responsibility for international security," Kortunov said.

He hopes that the forthcoming Russian-US talks on security guarantees will not be focused entirely on European security or Russia-NATO relations.

"It is essential to touch upon a far wider range of strategic stability issues, such as the future of nuclear weapons, because without such an agreement it would be hard to expect that third countries would be prepared to get plugged into the nuclear arms control process," he stressed.

Earlier on Monday, the leaders of Russia, Britain, China, the United States and France issued a statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races.