Kremlin baffled by Biden’s nuclear weapons proposal

A Russian official has expressed surprise at US President Joe Biden’s proposal to negotiate a new nuclear arms control agreement.

“Is that a serious statement, or has the White House website been hacked?” said the unnamed State Department official. “If this is serious, who do you want to discuss it with?”

Biden had previously said his government was ready to accelerate negotiations on a new framework agreement. The New START arms treaty expires in 2026. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a letter to participants at a conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty that there can be no winners in a nuclear war. Such a war should never be started.