Putin: Moscow and Washington bear greatest responsibility for strategic stability in the world

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Moscow and Washington bear the greatest responsibility for strategic stability in the world.

During a press conference after his first summit with US President Joe Biden, Putin said: “We agreed on the return of the ambassadors of the two countries and that the foreign ministries of the two countries will start working on the issue. The topics discussed are known to all and related to stability, regional crises, trade relations and cooperation in the Arctic.”

Putin made it clear that the United States of America and Russia bear a great responsibility towards strategic stability in the world, based on the fact that they are superpowers in the nuclear field, in the number of nuclear warheads and their means of transport, and in the level of modernity of nuclear weapons as well.

“We recognize this responsibility and President Biden has taken upon himself the responsibility to extend the START 3 agreement for five years. We have agreed that consultations will begin between the relevant ministries under the auspices of the US and Russian Foreign Ministries to form delegations and determine work topics and the periodicity of these meetings,” Putin said.

With regard to Ukraine, Putin stated that President Biden agreed to settle this issue under the Minsk Accords. But with regard to Ukraine joining NATO, there is nothing that can be discussed in this matter, especially since the Minsk Accords provide for the amendment of Ukraine’s constitution and the withdrawal of its forces from the border with Russia. He pointed out that Washington previously announced its intention to support extremist Russian political organizations and others that called for committing acts of sabotage.

“Our meeting today took place in an initial format. We differ in opinions on several issues, but in general, the two sides expressed their intention to understand each other and to search for common positions, most likely to be constructive. Therefore it is difficult to say now whether there will be an improvement in Russian-American relations,” Putin added:

Regarding cyber security, Putin pointed out that it was agreed to start consultations in this field, considering this a very important matter in the world, especially for America and Russia.

The Russian President considered Washington’s withdrawal from international agreements as an unpredictable party. 

Putin indicated that President Biden was able to take a rational decision to extend the START 3 agreement for five years, noting that all problems can be solved if the United States engages in constructive bilateral talks and that there is hope for building mutual trust.

With regard to the United States accusing Russia of militarizing the Arctic, Putin said: “We talked about this issue extensively. This issue is important because the economies of a large number of countries are related to it. Therefore the concern of the United States about the militarization of this pole is baseless and we are not doing anything that was not in the previous”.

Inas Abdulkareem