Nuke-free world is a distant dream - Lavrov

The world is not ready to get rid of nuclear arms in the foreseeable future, Russia’s Foreign Minister said at a meeting with the Association of European Business in Russia. However, Sergey Lavrov said the world’s atomic powers, including Russia and the U

Lavrov said it was necessary to work on a document to replace the Russia-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

On economic ties, the Foreign Minister gave his backing to a sort of trade zone that would include Russia, the US and Europe.

Lavrov said Moscow “would like to see tripartite partnership in a form of 'equilateral triangle' when cooperation is being developed on a mutually beneficial and equal basis.”

As for accession to WTO, he said Russia would not struggle for it at any cost.

“There is only one variant – Russia will only join the WTO on standard conditions,” he said.

The possibility of visa-free travel between Russia and Europe also came up at the meeting. Lavrov said if Russia and the EU agreed on it, it would be “a brilliant joint project, speaking of mutual commitment to developing bilateral relations.”