WASHINGTON, February 6. /TASS/. The White House recognizes that a new agreement on strategic weapons limitations between Russia, the United States and possibly other countries will not be concluded quickly, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in an article released by the State Department.
"We understand that this process can take time. Past agreements, including New START, took years to negotiate and were built upon decades of precedent. They were also between two powers, not three or more. However, just because something is hard does not mean we should not pursue it or settle for less. <...> Today in Geneva, we are taking the first steps into a future where the global nuclear threat is reduced in reality, not merely on paper. We hope others will join us," Rubio wrote.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last international legal restriction on the deployment of nuclear weapons, expired on February 5 due to Washington’s reluctance to extend it. US President Donald Trump said earlier that he expected to make a "better" agreement that would include China.
Moscow suggested extending the treaty’s validity for another year after the document expired but received no official response from Washington to the initiative. As for China, Moscow believes that it’s up to Beijing to make a decision and will respect any choice China makes. However, Russia emphasized that if New START’s scope was expanded at some point, it should include nuclear powers such as the UK and France, US allies and NATO members, whose nuclear capabilities are not covered by any strategic stability agreement.