MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - The first decisions made by the new U.S. administration are encouraging, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
Moscow and Washington have managed to agree on extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), Shoigu said.
Decisions may be made on strategic arms reductions in which other countries along with Russia and the United States are interested, Shoigu said in an interview with a Kazakh media outlet.
"You know, the first steps have been encouraging. They're encouraging because progress on extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty has been so fast. Of course, everyone is relieved," Shoigu told the Kazakh site tengrinews.kz.
"It's now clear that they have transitioned from unfeasible demands and proposals to quite normal and constructive dialogue. I hope, probably, that steps in which not only the U.S. and Russia, but also other countries are interested may be taken in the future," he said.
The Russian and U.S. militaries are in contact in Syria, Shoigu said.
"I won't hide that we have very close contacts with our U.S. colleagues on an operational, tactical level. I'm disclosing this secret, if it's a secret to anyone. Contacts take place several times a day at the level of our, I'll use a civilian term, managers in airspace and aerial anti-terrorism work," he said.