Russia welcomes the US proposal to extend the nuclear treaty

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Moscow, Russia – The Kremlin welcomed US President Joe Biden’s proposal on Friday extension of the last existing nuclear arms control treaty between the two nations for five years, which expires in less than two weeks.

Russia is in favor of extending the agreement and is waiting for the details of the US proposal, said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House announced on Thursday that Biden had proposed to Moscow to extend the New START treaty for another five years.

“We can only celebrate the political will to renew the document,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “But everything depends on the details of the proposal.”

The pact, signed in 2010 by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed warheads, as well as 700 missiles and bombers, and includes extensive on-site inspections to verify compliance. Expires on February 5.

Russia has long proposed extending the treaty without conditions or changes, but former President Donald Trump’s administration waited until last year to start talks and made the extension conditional on a series of demands. The dialogue stalled and months of negotiations failed to narrow the differences.

“There were certain conditions proposed for enlargement, and some were totally unacceptable to us, so let’s see what the United States has to offer first,” Peskov said.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, also praised Biden’s proposal, calling it an “encouraging step”.

“The expansion will give the two sides more time to consider possible additional measures aimed at strengthening strategic stability and global security,” he tweeted.

During the election campaign, Biden indicated that he was in favor of maintaining the New START, which was negotiated during his time as Vice President of the United States.

The dialogue to expand the treaty was also clouded by tensions between Moscow and Washington, fueled by, among other things, the crisis in Ukraine and Moscow’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

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