Russia And The US Continue To Communicate But There Has Been No Response To The New START Proposal

Dmitry Peskov. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Moscow and Washington continue to communicate at the government level, but United States President Donald Trump has not responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to maintain restrictions set out in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Agreement (New START), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"In fact, communication is ongoing, but there has been no response (on the New START proposal)," he said, launching TASS October 2.

Peskov further clarified, negotiations are ongoing "in general:" There is a channel for dialogue, which remains open."

Earlier, President Putin announced at a meeting of the Russian Security Council on September 22, Moscow was ready to maintain compliance with quantitative restrictions regulated in the agreement for another year after the document ended in February.

However, he stressed that the move would only apply if Washington did the same.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS Moscow was still waiting for a response from US President Donald Trump.

A White House official said US leaders would make statements about the matter, but this has not happened.