Russia is in favor of involving France, UK in nuclear arms reduction – deputy FM

Moscow has been in favor of involving France and the UK in the process of effecting real multilateral nuclear disarmament, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, said on Monday.

“When the task of translating the efforts on arms control moves into a practical sphere, Russia will clearly set out the issue of bringing aboard the UK and France,” the diplomat told the Valdai International Discussion Club.

The two states are the United States’ key allies “whose nuclear potential is considered and accounted along with that of America when planning NATO activities,” according to Ryabkov.

“We cannot ignore the potential of these countries, if we are to speak seriously about shifting the arms control process to a multilateral basis,” he added.