WASHINGTON, January 27. /TASS/. The agreement between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on extending New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) signals the US administration’s readiness to reduce nuclear risks, according to the Washington-based non-profit organization Nuclear Threat Initiative.

"We welcome the news that President Biden and President Putin have confirmed their agreement to extend New START for five years, while also acknowledging the full range of issues on the bilateral agenda," said NTI Vice President Lynn Rusten.

"This important step will prevent expiration of the treaty on February 5 and send an unmistakable signal of the Biden administration’s commitment to taking practical steps to strengthen U.S. national security and reduce nuclear risks. Extending New START provides a critical foundation for rebuilding the global arms control architecture to enhance stability and reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons," NTI Board Co-Chair and CEO Ernest J. Moniz and NTI Board Co-Chair Sam Nunn stressed. 

In its turn, the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation told TASS that New START’s extension was "the right decision." "Extending New START for the full five years allowed under the terms of the agreement is the right decision. New START has effectively reduced the world’s two biggest nuclear arsenals and allowed for much-needed transparency between the United States and Russia. Every day that New START is in force is another day we avoid the unconstrained deployment of nuclear weapons. New START is critical to U.S. national security, and it is clear that the Biden administration understands that. This extension will also give the United States and Russia time to pursue further arms control agreements," the non-profit organization said.

The Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden, expressed satisfaction following the exchange of notes on the extension of the New START Treaty, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday after their telephone conversation. According to the Kremlin, "the sides will finalize, within days, procedures needed to ensure further functioning of this major international mechanism of reciprocal limitation of nuclear missile arsenals."

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 February 5, 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.