Trump Replies to Putin’s START Treaty Proposal

Oct. 6—U.S. President Donald Trump was asked by a TASS reporter what he thought about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to extend the limitations of the New START Treaty for a year after it expires in February, according to TASS. “That sounds like a good idea to me,” Trump said, while speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. Trump has indicated on a variety of occasions that he would be interested in negotiating a treaty among the nuclear powers which would bring down the number of nuclear weapons. While the White House had indicated earlier that the President was in favor of what President Putin had proposed in extending the START limits, this is the first time he has made the comments himself, a response which Moscow had been waiting for.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special presidential envoy for economic cooperation with other countries, responded to Trump’s comments on his Telegram channel. TASS quoted Dmitriev’s response, in which he wrote: “U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposals on adhering to the restrictions under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty sound ‘like a good idea.’ … Judging by today’s news, the probability of such an outcome is quite high.” 

Sources close to the White House report that Trump and Putin have discussed this several times, including in Alaska two months ago. These sources say that the two will formally agree to the plan when the meet at their next summit, expected before the end of the year, in Moscow.