MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's most senior military officer offered sharp criticism Thursday of what he considered to be a case of double standards in how the United States approached nuclear security issues.

Chief of the General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said: "The U.S. has made demands that a number of countries' nuclear programs should be completely transparent. On the other hand, the U.S. turns a blind eye to the fact that Israel has for a long time ... had a significant nuclear arsenal."

He pointed to similar double standards in U.S. cooperation with Russia in other spheres, including control of missile technologies. According to Baluyevsky, the U.S. not only uses its arsenal to defend its interests but also as a form of leverage to put pressure on rivals on the market for this form of weaponry.

He said the Russian Defense Ministry had a serious approach to bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the United States against the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.