Putin praises Trump’s ‘sincere’ peace efforts, signals possible US-Russia nuclear deal
Ahead of his highly anticipated talks with President Donald Trump in Alaska, Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that he could be ready to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S.
On Thursday, Putin praised the U.S. for making "sincere efforts" to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has raged for over three years. He said on TV that the U.S. was "making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict," according to Reuters.
The Russian leader also reportedly mentioned possible future "agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons."
Russia and the U.S. hold the world’s largest nuclear weapons arsenals and have a treaty limiting the number of weapons they may possess, which is set to expire in February, adding more pressure to the upcoming talks. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) covers strategic nuclear weapons and caps the number of deployed warheads at 1,550 on each side, according to Reuters.
There has already been some nuclear tension between the two nations in recent days, as Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia after the country’s former president made "highly provocative statements." The Kremlin downplayed the move but warned all sides to be "very, very careful" about nuclear rhetoric, according to Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted that he could be willing to make a nuclear deal with President Donald Trump just ahead of the two leaders' high-stakes talk in Alaska.
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