In an address to senior diplomats in the Russian Foreign Ministry, Putin also said that Russia and the U.S. should pursue relations based on an equal footing and suggested that his country's business community make more of opportunities in Africa and Latin America.
The president proposed that talks be opened with Washington on replacing START-I, which was signed at the end of the Soviet era and expires in three years' time, with a new arms deal.
"We call for a new dialogue on the most urgent disarmament issues, and first of all propose to our American colleagues to start talks on replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in 2009," Putin said.
START I was signed on July 31, 1991, five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It remains in force as a treaty between the U.S., Russia and three other Soviet republics that have since totally disarmed their strategic capabilities. The U.S. and Russia reduced the number of delivery vehicles to 1,600 units with no more than 6,000 warheads.
The treaty was followed by START II, which banned the use of multiple re-entry vehicles but never entered into force and was later bypassed by the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), signed on May 24, 2002 by Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush in Moscow.
SORT, which expires on December 31, 2012, limited both countries' nuclear arsenal to 1,700-2,200 warheads each. The treaty has been largely criticized for the lack of verification provisions and the possibility of re-deploying stored warheads.
Russia's nuclear arsenal totaled 1,136 delivery vehicles and 5,518 warheads in December 2001, and Putin expressed concern about "the current standstill in arms reductions." He urged the U.S. and other nuclear powers to resume the negotiation process in this sphere.
In further remarks on Russia's and the U.S. roles in international stability and security, Putin said that an equal footing had to underlie bilateral relations.
"Partnership between such powers as Russia and the U.S. can be built only on terms of equality and mutual respect," Putin said.
He also called for maintaining progress in anti-terrorism cooperation and in international affairs, and said it could be expanded.
"Russian and American relations are especially important for strategic stability," Putin said. "Our joint fight against terrorism and efforts in settlement of regional key issues is definitely a positive [trend], which should be expanded to the solution of other pragmatic tasks."
But when it came to economics, Putin warned against unfair competition in relations and said that Russia would protect its interests.
The president talked earlier in June about U.S. restrictions on imports of low-enriched uranium from Russia that had been in force since the Soviet era. "We categorically oppose the lack of an equal competition for all market players, which hampers our companies' activities," he said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce responded by saying it intended to keep in place the existing restrictions, but would hold talks in Moscow later this month.
Putin lambasted Tuesday what many officials have called a discriminatory approach.
"The principle 'what is allowed for Jupiter is not allowed for the bull' is totally unacceptable for Russia," he said, quoting a Latin proverb.
Russian officials have also criticized Western "discrimination" against Russian companies in the last few days after Luxembourg's Arcelor decided to merge with world No.1 Mittal Steel, rejecting a rival bid from Russia's Severstal [RTS: CHMF] steel maker.
Russian Minister for Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko said Arcelor's decision was an example of "double standards." Senior parliamentarian Viktor Pleskachevsky echoed Khristenko by saying, "It is clear that many Western politicians and businessmen benefit from holding back our [Russian] companies from entering European and world markets - many people are not pleased by our success."
Putin said Russia was ready to interact and compete on the international arena, but only on the basis of fair and uniform rules of the game.
Despite these problems, Putin said Russian businesses had other options to expand their interests, in particular through partnership with Africa and Latin America.
Russia has recently clinched a series of deals on sales of military hardware to Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and is developing contacts with Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It is also in talks with Uruguay on setting up a joint venture to produce dual-purpose military products.
"A broad field for constructive, creative work is opening here for Russia, for domestic business," Putin said, adding that Latin America and Africa were becoming actively involved in globalization, which demonstrated that the time of exclusive "zones of influence" was now history.
Russia's largest independent crude producer, LUKoil [RTS: LKOH], plans to place up to 25% of its oil production and some 30% of refining capacities abroad, including in the Middle East and Latin America, as well as western Africa.
