MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. Moscow’s and Washington’s agreement on the extension of the New START Treaty can be seen as success of the entire thinking humankind and an achievement of Russia’s diplomacy, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"It (the agreement on New START) can be seen as success of the entire thinking humankind. It is a topic that was of concern for all," he said in an interview with the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

"And, naturally, it is success of our diplomacy and of the president [Vladimir Putin] personally. He was speaking in a well-argued manner that it is a cornerstone document, regrettably, the only remaining one that makes it possible for us to keep the strategic offensive potential of the two countries under control," he said.

He hailed the political will of the new US administration thanks to which Moscow and Washington have managed to agree to extend the treaty. "We see that the new administration of President Biden has demonstrated this political will. Moreover, they have even worded a proposal concerning five years," Peskov stressed. "It is a very good proposal, which was, naturally, supported by the Russian side immediately."

However, according to Peskov, the agreement on the New START extension cannot be interpreted as a direct signal that a rational approach will prevail in further relations between the two countries but this is what Russia can hope for on matters related to the Russian-US relations. "Of course, we can hope for it and we should always hope for the better," he added.

"But, anyway, we must be realistic and should not expect any dramatic changes in the United States’ position on the most sensible matters," he noted.

New START

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) upon the parties’ mutual consent.

Moscow repeatedly called on Washington not to delay prolongation of the treaty it describes as the gold standards in the area of disarmament. The US President Donald Trump administration said it would not extend the treaty and insisted China be invited to sign the treaty as well but Beijing turned down the idea.

The Joe Biden administration took an opposite position on that matter, On January 22, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki the US authorities were supporting the idea of extending the New START Treaty for a maximum possible term of five years.

On January 26, Moscow and Washington exchanged diplomatic notes on an agreement to extend New START. In a telephone conversation on the same day, Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, expressed satisfaction over this fact. Later in that day, the Russian president submitted to the State Duma lower parliament house a bill on the ratification of the agreement on five-year extension of New START, until February 5, 2026. The bill was signed into law on Friday evening. According to the Kremlin press service, the extension of the treaty is in Russia’s national interests as it makes it possible to ensure transparency and predictability in strategic relations between Russia and the United States and maintain strategic stability in the world.