Russia and the US must lead efforts to replace existing arms control pacts with an international, legally binding regime, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said today.
He made the call at a security conference in Munich, in a conciliatory speech in stark contrast to President Vladimir Putin's repeated attacks on US arms policies, which he says risks sparking a new arms race.
Mr Ivanov, a Kremlin hawk who until recently had been viewed by analysts as a favourite to succeed Mr Putin, said it was time to replace the SALT 1 arms control pact agreed between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War.
"As I see it, this is precisely an area of international relations where Russia and the United States not merely could, but are directly obliged to show leadership," Mr Ivanov said.
"Today there are several nuclear powers in the world and even more countries with a strong missile capacity ... Sooner or later, we will have to start working in a multilateral format," he told the same event at which Mr Putin a year earlier accused Washington of seeking world domination.
Mr Putin's preferred successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has not yet set out his foreign policy priorities ahead of March elections and the status of Mr Ivanov's comments were unclear.
Mr Ivanov said Moscow wanted to "occupy an appropriate place in world politics" but pledged that it would use its huge energy reserves - vital for European supplies - responsibly.