Putin says Russia is ramping up its nuclear arsenal — and is open to security talks with NATO states

• Russia is ready to hold security talks with NATO states, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said Friday, while affirming Moscow's intentions to ramp up the national nuclear arsenal.
• Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev separately said that conversations over a new treaty on limiting nuclear firepower with the U.S. are only possible once Washington no longer supplies weapons to Ukraine and blocks its admission to the NATO alliance.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow's participation in February 2023, without fully withdrawing his country from the treaty.

Russia is ready to hold security talks with NATO states, President Vladimir Putin said Friday, while affirming Moscow's intentions to ramp up the national nuclear arsenal.

Referencing security in the Eurasian region, Putin on Friday said the Kremlin is "ready for a broad international discussion of these key, vital issues — both with our colleagues in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the CIS, the EAEU, BRICS, and with other international associations — European and NATO states, including," according to a Google-translated report by Russian state news agency Tass.

"Naturally, when they are ready for this," the Russian president added, speaking during a meeting with military university graduates.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had signaled that Russia's willingness to entertain security talks with the U.S. specifically was conditional on simultaneous discussions about the war in Ukraine.

"We are open to dialogue, but to a broad, comprehensive dialogue that covers all dimensions, including the dimension related to the conflict around Ukraine, the involvement of the United States in this conflict," Peskov said, according to