New START

President Vladimir Putin would respond in kind if the new U.S. administration showed willingness to talk, a Kremlin spokesman said on Sunday, while also accusing Washington of meddling in mass protests in support of detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decisions by Russia and the United States to seek a five-year extension of the New START treaty, his spokesman said.

The Kremlin says it welcomes the U.S.’ readiness to extend the New START treaty on curbing nuclear weapons stockpiles, but warned that success will “depend on the details.”

Arms control advocates are urging Joe Biden to extend the last U.S.-Russian treaty limiting deployed strategic nuclear arms for five years, but some experts argue the U.S. president-elect should go for a shorter period to maintain leverage over Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he believes US foreign policy under Joe Biden would be similar to that seen under President Barack Obama, especially on Iran and climate change.

The United States accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington’s systems was “real, serious and increasing.”

Nuclear weapons talks between the United States and Russia started in Vienna on Monday, with the two countries’ envoys making only guarded comments shortly before they met.