MOSCOW, June 22 (UPI) -- Russia wants all countries with nuclear weapons to sign on to future arms reduction treaties, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday.
Lavrov's comment was a response to President Obama's proposal to slash the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals by one-third more than the limit set by the 2010 START treaty, RIA Novosti reported.
In addition to Russia and the United States, Britain, China, France and India are accepted members of the nuclear club. Pakistan and North Korea have also developed nuclear weapons, Israel is believed to have done so but has never confirmed or denied it, and Iran is believed to be trying to develop weapons.
Lavrov said all nuclear countries should get equal treatment.
"This means that further moves possibly proposed for reduction of actual strategic offensive arms will have to be reviewed in a multilateral format," he said in an interview on Rossia-1 television. "And I'm talking not just official nuclear powers, but all countries that possess nuclear weapons."
