Daily US Times: Russia on Friday welcomed US President Joe Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the two nations, which is set to expire in less than two weeks.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said that Russia stands for extending the pact and is waiting to see the details of the US proposal.
On Thursday, the White House said that Biden has proposed to Russia a five-year extension of the New START treaty.
In a conference call with reporters, Peskov said: “We can only welcome political will to extend the document. But all will depend on the details of the proposal.”
The nuclear treaty was signed in 2010 by former President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The deal limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance. It expires on Feb. 5.
Russia has long proposed to prolong the pact without any changes or conditions, but President Trump’s administration waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands.
The talks between the two countries stalled, and months of bargaining have failed to narrow differences.
Mr Peskov said: “Certain conditions for the extension have been put forward, and some of them have been absolutely unacceptable for us, so let’s see first what the US is offering.”
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