Russia has offered not to increase its number of nuclear warheads if the United States agrees to do the same, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
It said the US has not formally responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to extend the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, which is set to expire in four months.
"Russia proposes to extend the START Treaty by one year and is ready to make a political commitment together with the United States to freeze the number of nuclear warheads held by the parties for this period," the statement said.
It said that if the US accepts this deal, then negotiations to further extend the New START treaty can proceed. New START is the last remaining nuclear arms reductions treaty between the US and Russia.
US 'appreciates' the offer
However, the US State Department says it is prepared to finalize a nuclear agreement with Russia.
"We appreciate the Russian Federation's willingness to make progress on the issue of nuclear arms control," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
"The United States is prepared to meet immediately to finalize a verifiable agreement. We expect Russia to empower its diplomats to do the same," she said.
Other nuclear states
US officials have argued that such bilateral treaties have been made obsolete by the rise of other nuclear-weapon states, particularly China.
The US initiated last year's withdrawal from the bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on the allegation that Russia violated it by developing a missile capable of travelling within the banned range.
