BISHKEK, November 27. /TASS/. Participants in the Bishkek summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have welcomed Russia’s initiative to maintain the status quo under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for at least a year and urged Washington to support the initiative to prevent an arms race.
"We welcome the Russian Federation’s constructive initiative to maintain the status quo in relation to the country’s related arsenals for at least a year after the Russia-US New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires in February 2026," the leaders said in a declaration released by the Kremlin press service.
"We call on the US to support the initiative aimed at ensuring predictability and restraint in this field, preventing an arms race, and promoting the goals of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," the document reads.
President Vladimir Putin announced at a Russian Security Council meeting on September 22 that Moscow was ready to maintain compliance with the quantitative restrictions outlined in the treaty for another year after the document expires next February. However, he stressed that the measure would be valid only if Washington did the same.
Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov pointed out on November 13 that the US had not yet reacted to Moscow’s proposals. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryakbov said on November 21 that there were currently no conditions for preserving New START and that Moscow and Washington did not maintain contact on the issue.