WASHINGTON, February 6. /TASS/. An agreement to retain the current provisions of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) would show that Washington is ready for practical cooperation with Moscow even while there is no settlement on Ukraine yet, Mark Episkopos, Eurasia Research Fellow at Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told TASS.
"The [Trump] administration’s continued drive to engage Russia on New START, potentially including an informal arrangement to continue observing the treaty’s provisions, demonstrates a clear intent not to be seen as closing the door on practical, narrow forms of cooperation even as Ukraine negotiations carry on," the expert believes.
According to Episkopos, "these developments, if verified, could serve to dispel any lingering Russian doubts over US intentions and generate additional goodwill to propel ongoing work on a peace settlement that establishes a fuller and more durable basis for stabilized US-Russia relations," he argued.
Earlier, Axios reported, citing sources, that, on the sidelines of the latest round of Abu Dhabi talks on Ukraine, the Russian and US delegations agreed to continue to informally extend the New START Treaty for at least six months beyond its expiration date. Neither the White House nor the US Department of State did not immediately respond to a TASS request to comment on that report. New START expired on February 5.