WASHINGTON, October 5. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has essentially accepted his Russia counterpart, Vladimir Putin’s proposal to keep on adhering to the quantitative restrictions under the New START Treaty, Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association (ACA), told TASS, commenting on Trump calling this proposal a "good idea."

According to Kimball, the ACA welcomes "President Trump’s positive response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal 'to continue to adhere to the central quantitative restrictions under the [New] START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026."

"We urge Republicans and Democrats to welcome President Trump’s decision to maintain commonsense restraints on the world’s two largest and most deadly nuclear arsenals," he emphasized.

"More nuclear weapons will not make the US, Russia, or the world safer. Respecting the central limits for at least one year beyond its expiration will help reduce tensions, forestall a costly arms race that no one can win, create diplomatic leverage to curb the buildup of China’s arsenal, and buy time for talks on a broader, more durable, treaty," he stated.

"Now, the Kremlin and the White House need to formalize the arrangement and immediately direct their teams to begin negotiations on a new more comprehensive agreement or agreements that address difficult issues with which the two sides have long struggled," he added.

Set up in 1971, the Washington-based Arms Control Association is a national nonpartisan membership organization, which declares its mission in "promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies."

When asked by TASS earlier on Sunday, Trump said that Putin’s proposal "sounds like a good idea."

On September 22, Putin stated at a meeting with the Russian Security Council that Russia was prepared to continue adhering to the treaty's quantitative restrictions for another year after the New START expires in February. However, he emphasized that this measure is only viable if Washington follows suit.

About the treaty

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 ten years, until February 5, 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.