ISLAMABAD – Top Russian officials on Monday told Donald Trump s nationalsecurity advisor that Moscow is ready to cooperate with Washington over aCold War-era nuclear treaty and that abandoning the key agreement would putthe world in danger.
National security advisor John Bolton is expected to discuss US PresidentTrump s plan to jettison the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range NuclearForces Treaty (INF) with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
On Monday, Bolton discussed the fate of the treaty with Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov and also spent “nearly five hours” in talks with RussianSecurity Council chief Nikolai Patrushev, a spokesman told AFP.
The collapse of the treaty would deal a “serious blow to the entireinternational legal system of non-proliferation and arms control,” theSecurity Council said in a statement after Patrushev and Bolton met.
The Russian Security Council stressed the meeting s “constructive andbusiness-like manner” and said Moscow is ready to work together with theUnited State to salvage the agreement.
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Patrushev and Bolton also discussed issues related to a possible extensionby five years of the New START arms control treaty, which expires in 2021.
Later Monday Lavrov and Bolton met for a “working dinner”, a Russianforeign ministry spokeswoman said.
Russia s top diplomat said ahead of the meeting that he was waiting to hearBolton s “official explanation” regarding Trump s intentions, adding thatthe US had not yet initiated the procedure for exiting the treaty. – APP/AFP
