Putin suggests Russia and U.S. could make a deal on nuclear arms control

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the United States was making “genuine efforts” to end the conflict in Ukraine and indicated that Moscow and Washington might reach a nuclear arms agreement as part of a broader push to promote peace.

Speaking to senior ministers and security officials on the eve of his summit in Alaska with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been advocating for an end to the fighting, Putin said the U.S. was “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, end the crisis and achieve agreements that serve the interests of all parties involved in this conflict.”

He added that these efforts were aimed at “creating long-term conditions for peace between our countries, in Europe, and across the world – if, in the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”

Putin’s remarks suggested that Russia intends to raise the topic of nuclear arms control as part of a broader security agenda when he meets Trump in Anchorage for the first Russia-U.S. summit since June 2021. The two nations possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, and their last remaining agreement limiting these weapons – the New START treaty – is set to expire on 5 February next year. The treaty caps deployed strategic warheads at 1,550 on each side, a limit both are likely to exceed if no replacement or extension is agreed.

Tensions over nuclear issues have grown in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump said he had ordered two U.S. nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia after comments by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about the possibility of war between the two countries. While the Kremlin downplayed the move, it warned that “everyone should be very, very careful” with nuclear rhetoric.

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said the leaders will also discuss the “huge untapped potential” in Russia-U.S. economic relations and explore prospects for ending the conflict in Ukraine. According to Ushakov, the summit will begin at 19:30 GMT (11:30 a.m. local time in Anchorage) with a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Trump, accompanied only by translators. This will be followed by talks between the delegations, a working lunch, and a joint press conference.

Ushakov noted that Ukraine would “obviously” be the main focus, but wider security and international matters would also be on the agenda. He said both sides would exchange views on expanding bilateral cooperation, including trade and economic ties, which he described as having “huge, but so far unrealised, potential.” The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation.

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