Preliminary speculations about the meeting are mostly about the Ukraine war, but at a meeting with politicians and military in Moscow on Thursday, Putin also talked about broader agreements. A goal, he said according to international media, is to achieve "long-lasting peaceful conditions between our countries, in Europe, and in the world as a whole, if we reach an agreement regarding control of strategic offensive weapons, in later phases".
"Strategic offensive weapons" refers to nuclear weapons, an area that will soon be completely unregulated between Russia and the USA – the last disarmament agreement, known as "new Start", expires in early February 2026.
