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, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"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 said.
He stressed that "it is of great importance to respect each other’s concerns and take into account Russia’s well-known position on the issue."
Peskov said he was unable to answer the question yet if Moscow had received a formal proposal via diplomatic channels for extending the treaty. "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."
"We have our own position. It is consistent and well-known and we cannot afford to depart from it," TASS cited the spokesman as saying.
