MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin expects that the extension of New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) for five years will be enough for carrying out a further effort in this direction, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

The Kremlin spokesman recalled that Moscow had accepted Washington’s proposal on extending New START for five years. "This is a good term, which will allow us to work well either on the further extension or a new text of the treaty, provided that there is certain political will," Peskov said.

In reply to a question how the Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, managed to come to terms on New START so quickly, Peskov noted that "this was preceded by a rather hard work." "This work needed to be bolstered in the light of a looming deadline," he said, noting that the current deal expires in early February.

"So, before the conversation [over the phone between Putin and Biden on Tuesday - TASS] this effort had been carried out," he stated.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma (lower house) a bill on ratifying the agreement on extending New START for five years - until February 5, 2026. Putin and US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation, expressing satisfaction over exchanging notes between the two countries on extending the document.

Russia and the United States signed New START in 2010. 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 (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) 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.