MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. A senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday he doesn’t rule out that US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s resignation may improve the chances for the extension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty).

"The hope that the New START Treaty will be extended is alive as long as it is in force, i.e. till February 2021. And [after Bolton’s resignation] chances that the agreements could be reached in time and quite smoothly are at least in place or may even improve," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, told TASS.

Bolton, in Kosachev's words, is a staunch advocate of tough approaches in the US policies. "He has always been against agreements in the sphere of strategic stability and arms control obviously thinking that they lay too many restrictions on the United States not letting it demonstrate its superiority," he said.

"I don’t know if that was the reason why [US President Donald] Trump has fired Bolton but I know that this is why I am not going to be sorry for his resignation," he added.

The US president said on Tuesday he had dismissed Bolton.

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) was signed in 2010 and 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 will remain in force for 10 years, until 2021, unless it is replaced before that date by a subsequent agreement on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. It can also be extended for no longer than 5 years (that is, until 2026) by the parties’ mutual consent.