LONDON, January 25. /TASS/. Senior Republicans in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the US Congress’ House of Representatives Michael McCaul and Mike Rogers and head of the Special Committee on Intelligence Mike Turner have urged the Biden administration to give an assessment of Russia’s observance of the provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty.

The Financial Times reported on this on its website on Wednesday, citing a letter sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on January 23.

Its authors insist that suspending inspections within the framework of the New START Treaty following the onset of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Moscow’s decision to postpone a meeting of the treaty’s Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) as well as a number of recent statements by the Russian leadership "at a minimum, raise serious compliance concerns regarding the [Russian] Federation’s adherence to the New START Treaty." For this reason, "the chairs of the House armed services, foreign affairs and intelligence committees have sought a determination by January 31."

Rogers told the FT that, in his opinion, Russia was in "clear violation" of the treaty and the Biden administration "should say so."

Two years ago, McCaul and Rogers spoke against extending the New Start Treaty for five years and criticized the Biden administration for allegedly missing an opportunity to conclude a new version of the agreement which would include non-strategic nuclear arms and provide for a stricter inspections schedule.

About New START

The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) was signed by Russia and the United States in 2010. 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.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty which the Russian government characterized as the gold standard in the disarmament sphere for a five-year period, until 2026. Recently, the current US administration led by US President Joe Biden has repeatedly indicated publicly that it considered the New START Treaty very important and supported its extension.