Russia says it has no specific contacts with US on expiring nuclear treaty

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Russia and the United States currently have no specific contacts regarding the imminent expiry of the New START nuclear arms control treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

The treaty, the last of its kind between Moscow and Washington, sets limits on the number of deployed nuclear warheads the world’s two biggest nuclear powers can have and is due to expire on February 5.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to voluntarily uphold the treaty’s terms for a year after it expires if the United States does the same. But Moscow says it has not yet received a formal response to Putin’s offer.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would like China to be part of any replacement agreement, something Beijing has always rejected.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia understood China’s position since the size of Beijing’s nuclear arsenal was smaller than Russia’s.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)