Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a very balanced reaction to US President Donald Trump not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He said on Friday, “I don’t know whether Trump deserves this award or not, but he is trying to find solutions to complex issues.” “US presidents, for years and decades, have really been doing a lot to resolve serious issues and current difficult crises, and the same applies to the Ukraine crisis,” Putin said.
He said, “Trump is really trying to find a solution to this. The situation in the Middle East is a shining example of that. If the current initiative is brought to fruition, if everything that Donald Trump was trying to do comes to fruition, it will truly be a historic achievement.” It is noteworthy that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been announced to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Turning to the conflict in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than 3 1/2 years, Putin said he and Trump discussed ways to resolve it at their summit in Alaska in August, adding that “overall, we have an understanding, both on the part of the United States and the Russian Federation, where we should go and what efforts we should make to end this conflict.” Putin said he told Trump in Alaska that he needed more time to think about it and discuss it with Russia’s allies.
He said, “These are complex issues that require further analysis, but we remain committed to the discussions that took place in Anchorage. Perhaps we can still achieve a lot based on the agreements and discussions that took place in Anchorage.” He expressed hope that Moscow and Washington would agree to extend the 2010 New START arms reduction treaty for one year after it expires in February. The agreement allows each country to have no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. When asked about Putin’s proposal to extend the New START agreement in September, Trump said on Sunday that “it seems like a good idea to me.”
Putin said on Friday that Russia and the United States still had enough time to agree on its extension “if there is good will.” He said that “if the American side decides that it does not need it, it is not important for us at all,” because Russia has upgraded its strategic nuclear arsenal and is preparing to deploy new weapons. At the same time, he warned that the termination of the agreement would mean that there would be no arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. Putin said, “We are ready to negotiate if the Americans, the American side, consider it acceptable and useful. If not, then no. It would be tragic, because there would be nothing left in terms of deterrence in the field of strategic offensive weapons.”
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