MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Russia’s approaches to issues of the New START treaty extension will depend on the international security and strategic stability situation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"As for a potential new treaty to replace New START, Russia’s approaches will be adjusted on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the development of the security situation and strategic stability," she said.

She recalled that Russia has repeatedly outlined what is needed to re-launch the negotiating process. "The biggest obstacle is the current situation in Russian-American relations, which needs to be corrected," she said. "Apart from that, Washington must return to strict compliance with the fundamental principles of the START treaty. Those are: the indivisibility of security, equality and mutually beneficial relations, and the acknowledgement of the inextricable link between strategic offensive and defensive weapons."

US President Donald Trump said earlier that he wants to strike a new agreement to replace the New START treaty.

 

About the 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) 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 Treaty was signed for a term of ten years, until February 5, 2021, with a possibility of a further extension upon the parties’ mutual consent.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty, described by the Russian authorities as the golden standard in the sphere of disarmament, for the maximal possible five years.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 21, 2023 that Russia was suspending its participation in New START but was not withdrawing from it. The president stressed that before returning to the discussion of the extension of the treaty, the Russian side wanted to understand how New START will take into account not only the United States’ arsenals but also stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France.