MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Even as US congressmen are concerned over the expiration of the New START treaty, the issue should be addressed at a higher level, Svetlana Zhurova, first deputy chair of the State Duma international committee, told TASS.
"Anna Paulina Luna [a Republican member of the US House of Representatives] who invited us said in opening remarks that we are nuclear powers and that we should try to maintain dialogue," the senior Russian lawmaker said, commenting on the results of a recent visit of a Duma delegation to the United States. "I am confident that this (New START’s expiration - TASS) worries the American side, but perhaps this issue should be discussed at higher level talks and with other people," she added.
According to Zhurova, the New START topic was raised at the meeting between Russian and US legislators but not in great detail. "We flagged the issue as important," she said.
The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) between Russia and the United States, the last remaining international legal limit on nuclear weapons deployment, expired on February 5 due to Washington’s reluctance to extend it. US President Donald Trump earlier indicated that he expected to negotiate a "better" agreement that would include China.