“We hope that contacts with the American side will continue in any case,” a Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
He noted that the extension of the agreement would buy time for substantive and serious negotiations on arms control issues.
Peskov also stressed that depriving the whole world of this “cornerstone of global stability and security” would have very disastrous consequences.
Earlier, White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said that Putin's proposal to extend START III without preconditions, but without freezing the number of nuclear warheads, is "doomed to failure."
Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov indicated that the United States rejected the initiative without serious analysis.