EU urges Russia, U.S. to continue nuclear arms reduction

BRUSSELS. May 7 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States bear special responsibility for arms control, a EU official told Interfax in Brussels on Tuesday in his comments on the phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump who touched upon the issue of nuclear weapons.

"We recall that the two nuclear-weapon States with the largest arsenals carry a special responsibility in the area of arms control and nuclear disarmament," the official said.

"The United States and the Russian Federation should seek further reductions to their arsenals, including strategic and non-strategic, deployed and non-deployed nuclear weapons," he said.

"As reiterated in the past, the EU is a staunch supporter of treaty-based arms control. In this regard, the New START Treaty is a crucial contribution to international and European security," the official said.

The EU believes that "this Treaty limits strategic competition and increases strategic stability by enhancing predictability and mutual confidence amongst the two largest nuclear weapon States," he said.

"The Treaty also represents a significant contribution to the implementation of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty," the official said.

"Parties should engage in early and active dialogue on the future of the Treaty and the potential new arms control arrangements between the US and Russia to preserve strategic stability and to lock in the achievements reached on nuclear disarmament beyond the existing Treaty," he said.

Trump and Putin discussed pressing global affairs and the possibility of extending the existent agreements and concluding new ones with the participation of China in their phone call on May 3, according to White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders.

"The heads of state expressed satisfaction with the discussion which was held in a business-like and constructive manner," the Kremlin press service said.