"What do we need nuclear arms for?" Putin said during talks with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"Was it us that invented and ever used it?" he said in a thinly veiled reference to the United States, which became the world's first nuclear power when it bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

"If those who made the atomic bomb and used it are ready to adandon it, along with -- I hope -- other nuclear powers that officialy or unofficially possess it, we will of course welcome and facilitate this process in every possible way."

US President Barack Obama is due in Moscow next month for talks with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on a successor to a Cold War-era disarmament pact, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), set to expire in December.

The outcome of their talks could have far-reaching implications for global security -- and a successful result would boost Obama's stated vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

Speaking on a visit to Ulan-Bator last month, Putin said he would meet Obama in Moscow "with pleasure."

The world's other declared and presumed nuclear powers include, China, Britain, France, Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea.

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