The minimal acceptable number of nuclear warheads for Russia which the new Russian-U.S. treaty on strategic arms could stipulate is 1,500, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Strategic Rocket Forces Commander Nikolai Solovtsov as saying on Wednesday.
"Our position is that we cannot go below the level of 1,500 nuclear warheads. But the final decision is to be made by the country's political leadership," said Solovtsov at a meeting of the Defense Ministry's Public Council, Xinhua reported.