US president-elect Donald Trump will propose offering to end sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with Moscow, he told The Times of London.
Criticising previous US foreign policy in an interview published yesterday, he described the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 as possibly the gravest error in the history of the US.
But Trump, who will be inaugurated as president on Friday, raised the prospect of the first big nuclear arms control agreement with Moscow since the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.
"They have sanctions on Russia - let's see if we can make some good deals with Russia," he was quoted as saying by The Times.
"For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that's part of it. Russia's hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit."
Asked whether he would trust German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Vladimir Putin more, Trump said: "Well, I start off trusting both - but let's see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all."
On Nato, Trump repeated his view that the military alliance was obsolete but said it was still very important for him.
On the UK's vote to leave the EU, he said: "Brexit is going to end up being a great thing."
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