MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The announcement of France’s partnership with non-nuclear Germany on nuclear weapons issues further highlights Russia’s stance: meaningful negotiations on strategic stability cannot proceed without considering European arsenals. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized this point during a news briefing, stating that without involving Britain and France - Europe’s nuclear powers - no substantive discussions with the United States are feasible.
Peskov pointed out that reports of Paris’s plans for nuclear military cooperation with Berlin reaffirm the Russian position: any future talks on strategic stability must include European nuclear states. "This is a reminder that, under current circumstances, negotiations cannot move forward without their involvement," he emphasized.
The context for these remarks is the recent expiration, in February, of the last major agreement on strategic arms reduction - the Russian-American Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). Washington has indicated its intention to abandon the treaty, aiming instead to negotiate a new framework that also involves China. Moscow has responded that any new agreement must encompass additional negotiations and coordination, taking into account not only the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States but also those of the US’s European allies, Britain and France.