UNITED NATIONS, August 3. /TASS/. The United States would like to launch talks with Russia on a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) that expires in 2026, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs Bonnie Jenkins said at a briefing on Wednesday.
She pointed out that the two major nuclear powers had earlier reduced their nuclear arsenals. The US would like to return to the negotiating table and launch dialogue with Russia but no time frames have been set, Jenkins added.
On Monday, the White House released US President Joe Biden’s statement ahead of the 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Biden particularly said that his "administration is ready to expeditiously negotiate a new arms control framework to replace New START when it expires in 2026." The US president also noted that "the health of the NPT has always rested on meaningful, reciprocal arms limits between the United States and Russian Federation." He added that "even at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to work together to uphold our shared responsibility to ensure strategic stability.".