WASHINGTON, November 16. /TASS/. Washington assumes that any potential bilateral arms control treaty with Moscow needs to take into account strategic threats worldwide and Washington’s deterrence needs, the US Department of Defense said in its report to the Congress.

"The United States will abide by the central limits of the New START Treaty for the duration of the Treaty as long as it assesses that Russia continues to do so. The United States is also committed to future arms control with its nuclear-armed competitors, understanding that progress requires willing partners who are committed to reducing risks and who understand that managing rivalry through arms control is preferable to unrestrained competition," says an unclassifed Report to Congress on the Nuclear Weapons Employment Strategy of the United States.

"The types of limits that the United States will consider in future negotiations will be influenced by the actions and trajectories of other nuclear-armed actors. Future bilateral agreements or arrangements with Russia, for example, will need to account for U.S. deterrence requirements and other strategic threats globally," the document reads.

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 Treaty was signed for a term of 10 years, until 2021, with a possibility of a further extension upon the parties’ mutual consent.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty, described by the Russian authorities as the golden standard in the sphere of disarmament, for the maximal possible five years.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 21, 2023 that Russia was suspending its participation in New START but was not withdrawing from it. The president stressed that before returning to the discussion of the extension of the treaty, the Russian side wanted to understand how New START will take into account not only the United States’ arsenals but also stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France.