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Gone are the days when the United States and Russia decided on the world’s most important issues, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, saying that now Germany and China are moving toward superpower status, Agerpres writes.
Speaking in a video link at the Valdai Talk Club meeting, Putin hinted that the role of the United States, like that of the United Kingdom and France, had diminished, while Berlin and Beijing, in terms of political and economic importance – se is moving towards world superpower status.
If Washington is not ready to discuss global issues with Moscow, Russia is ready to have such a discussion with other nations, Putin said.
The Russian president also said that the United States can no longer claim exceptional character and wondered why it would want to.
With the US presidential elections approaching on November 3, Vladimir Putin also expressed hope that the new administration is ready for dialogue on nuclear security and control.
The Russian president has said that the world has no future without an arms control system, as the future of the nuclear weapons treaty between Russia and the United States remains uncertain.
Washington last week rejected Moscow’s proposal for an unconditional one-year extension of the latest strategic nuclear boundary treaty between the United States and Russia, calling it unacceptable.
In a meeting of the Valdai Talks Club, Putin assured that the security of Russia will not be affected if the treaty is not extended.
The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, signed in 2010 and expiring in February, restricts the number of nuclear warheads that Russia and the United States can deploy, as well as the number of missiles and bombers they can carry.
Despite the differences, Moscow and Washington appear to be moving closer to an agreement on the New START, Reuters reports.
Editor: Iulia Iancu
