F.P Report
MOSCOW: On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia welcomes the United States’ political will to extend the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START), but everything will depend on the details of this proposal.
While explaining the stance of Kremlin Peskov stated “Russia is for preserving New START and for extending this treaty in order to gain time for talks and contacts. We can only welcome the political will to extend this document, but everything will depend on the details of this proposal, which is yet to be studied.”
Peskov emphasized that “it is of great importance to respect each other’s concerns and take into account Russia’s well-known position on the issue, he added that he was unable to answer the question yet if Moscow had received a formal proposal via diplomatic channels for extending the treaty.
Moreover he also refrained from answering on the matter saying that “For the time being I have no information on this score, I have no details,” he said.
Peskov added that Moscow had no idea yet “what specifically the American side is prepared to talk about.”
He stated “We have our own position. It is consistent and well-known and we cannot afford to depart from it.” On the other side Peskov also commented on the White House spokesperson Jen Psaki’s statement that President Joseph Biden was for extending the treaty without any changes or conditions, saying that “Nothing has been said about this so far. Up to this very moment certain preconditions for its extension have been put forward. Some of those conditions were utterly unsuitable for us, so let us first take a look at what the Americans propose, and then make comments.”
