WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was prepared to maintain a nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow, after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin proposed a one-year extension.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Trump said at the White House when a reporter asked for his response to Putin’s offer to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, four months before its February 5, 2026 expiration.
New START restricts both countries’ deployed offensive nuclear weapons, requiring that intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and nuclear warheads remain below the agreed-upon limits.
The treaty, signed in 2010, limits each side to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads, and 800 deployed and non-deployed ballistic missile launchers and heavy bombers.
It also provides for a mutual verification system.
But such inspections have been suspended since Moscow halted its participation in the treaty two years ago, against a backdrop of the war in Ukraine and growing tensions with the West.
In January, Trump expressed a desire for a negotiated denuclearization with Moscow and Beijing. He has also asked the Pentagon to develop a huge and ambitious US missile defense system known as Golden Dome.
Trump suggests willing to extend arms control deal with Russia
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Trump suggests willing to extend arms control deal with Russia
- New START restricts both countries’ deployed offensive nuclear weapons
Russian army present in six African countries: state TV
- Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya
- The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow
MOSCOW: The Russian army is operating in six African countries, state TV reported in a rare high-profile acknowledgement of the extent of Moscow’s official military presence on the continent.
Facing isolation in the West following its full-scale offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has tried to build new partnerships in Africa, where it has been growing its political, economic and military footprint in recent years.
“Officers and soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces unit are already operating in six African countries,” a state TV correspondent said in a report broadcast Sunday.
Except from Mali, the report did not specify which countries.
Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya.
The African Corps unit of the Russian defense ministry took over from the Wagner paramilitary group across the continent, diplomatic sources in the Sahel region told AFP in June.
The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow.
Its troops had been fighting in Ukraine and had been deployed across Africa.
The state TV report identified Africa Corps as part of the Russian defense ministry.
It said most of the soldiers deployed were “veterans of the Special Military Operation,” Russia’s term for the war in Ukraine.
In one shot, a flag with insignia resembling the Wagner group’s trademark skull logo could be seen at what the reporter said was a Russian base in Mali.
The video also showed two Russian bombers launching an attack and displayed heavy Russian equipment including helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Moscow says its forces are helping several African governments repel jihadist insurgencies.
