Trump's Vow to Raise US Nuclear Capacities 'Throws World Back to 20th Century'

US President Donald Trump's vow to expand US nuclear capacities is sending the world back into the 20th century by challenging all treaties on strategic arms reduction, senior member of the Russian parliament's upper house Alexey Pushkov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Trump told Reuters news agency that the United States was going to be "at the top of the pack" in terms of nuclear capacities and would never "fall behind on nuclear power."

"Trump's words on the expansion of the US nuclear potential challenge strategic arms reduction treaties, throwing the world back into the 20th century," Pushkov wrote on his Twitter.

The lawmaker added that the deals on strategic arms reduction had been at the core of the stable relationship between Russia and the United States since 1972.

"This [stability] should be preserved," the lawmaker wrote.

Trump also reportedly said that he does not support the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia.

The New START was signed by the two sides in 2010. The nations agreed to cut the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 and the number of deployed missiles and bombers to 700.

In 1972, the Soviet Union and the United States signed Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement, or SALT I, which capped the number of ballistic missiles at the existing level.

Both Russia and the United States are also parties to the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and relevant technology.