Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Kremlin was ready to limit the number of its deployed nuclear warheads and launchers for one more year as long as the US did the same, a move that would maintain the caps imposed by the last remaining arms control treaty between the two nations.Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Putin said Russia wanted to “avoid provoking a further strategic arms race.” “We believe that this measure will become viable only if the US acts in a similar way and does not take steps that undermine or violate the existing balance of deterrence potentials,” Putin said in televised remarks.The White House said the proposal “sounds pretty good.” Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the US President Trump is aware of the proposal and wishes to make public comments on it.The announcement highlighted, in part, how Russia’s president is keen to avoid what could be costly new expenditures on weapons at a time when his state budget has been under increased pressure because of spending on the war in Ukraine. It also came amid signs that Trump has grown frustrated with Putin over foundering efforts to end the Ukraine war as well as stalled talks between Moscow and Washington on other issues.The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, was signed in 2010 during a “reset” – a brief period of improved relations between Moscow and Washington. It limited the number of warheads that the US and Russia could deploy to 1,550 and also capped the number of launchers – including ballistic missiles and bombers – that could deliver them. Agencies
