MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START) was extended not offhandedly but on the basis of a professional analysis of the global situation and Russia-US relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the program, Moscow. Kremlin. Putin, on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
A fragment of Putin’s interview was posted on the smotrim.ru website on Sunday.
The Treaty’s extension manifested US President Joe Biden’s professional approach and was the first step taken by the new American administration, Putin emphasized.
"I believe this is a very important step and, generally, this is the manifestation of [US] President Biden’s professionalism," the Russian leader said.
"This is because this was done not offhandedly but on the basis of a professional analysis of the situation in the world and in our relationships and in our potentials," Putin said.
New START Treaty
Russia and the United States signed the New START Treaty in 2010. The document stipulates that seven years after its entry into effect and thereafter 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.
Moscow repeatedly called on Washington not to delay the prolongation of the Treaty it described as the golden standard in the area of disarmament. However, the administration of previous US President Donald Trump said it would not extend the Treaty in its current form, calling it a bad deal. Washington also insisted that China be invited to sign the Treaty as well but Beijing turned down the idea.
The administration of US newly-elected President Joe Biden assumed the opposite position on this issue. On January 22, US White House spokesperson Jen Psaki stated that the US authorities were supporting the idea of extending the New START Treaty as the document met the country’s national security interests.
On January 26, Moscow and Washington exchanged diplomatic notes on an agreement to extend the New START Treaty. In a telephone conversation, Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden expressed their satisfaction over this fact. Later in that day, the Russian president submitted to the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) a bill on ratifying the agreement on the five-year extension of the New START Treaty until February 5, 2026. Putin signed the bill into law on January 29.