MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev and US National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed on Monday in Moscow prospects for extending the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the new START Treaty) for five more years after 2021.

"During the meeting, both sides exchanged opinions regarding the issue of extending the term of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms for five more years after 2021," the press service of the Russian Security Council announced on Monday.

"They have discussed in detail the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [NPT], the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty [CTBT], the Treaty on Open Skies, as well as the Chemical Weapons Convention [CWC] and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention [BTWC]," the statement added.

New START Treaty

The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) entered into force on February 5, 2011.

The document stipulates that seven years after its entry into effect each party should have no more than a total of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers, as well as no more than 1,550 warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs and strategic bombers, and a total of 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and strategic bombers.

The new START Treaty obliges the parties to exchange information on the number of warheads and carriers twice a year.

The new START Treaty will remain in force during 10 years until 2021, unless superseded by a subsequent agreement. It may be extended for a period of no more than five years (i.e. until 2026) upon the parties’ mutual consent.