US President Donald Trump spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday in a discussion the White House says focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic besides arms race with Russia and China.
“President Trump and President Putin discussed efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies,” spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. “President Trump reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna,” he added.
According to the Kremlin press office, the presidents “gave a positive assessment to cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus infection.” “The conversation was constructive and meaningful,” the Kremlin emphasised adding that the leaders had agreed to continue contacts at various levels. The presidents reaffirmed the need to hold Russian-US talks on arms control.
“[They] discussed in detail strategic stability and arms control, taking into consideration the particular responsibilities of Russia and the US in maintaining international peace and security,” the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday after the two leaders’ talks.
The Kremlin pointed out that “in this context, they confirmed the relevance of bilateral consultations on those issues, including on the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
Apart from that, Putin and Trump “noted the importance of the Russian initiative to convene a summit of the permanent members of the UN Security Council on a wide range of international security issues.”.
Both sides also believe that collective efforts aimed at preserving the global nuclear nonproliferation regime are in great demand. “The situation around the Iran nuclear deal was touched upon. Both sides emphasized the need for collective efforts to maintain regional stability and the global nuclear nonproliferation regime,” the statement says.
