Radio Free Europe 1/29/2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill approving the extension of the New START nuclear arms-control treaty.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted unanimously on January 27 to extend the New START for five years. It was then approved quickly in the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.
The pact, signed in 2010, was set to expire on February 5.
New START, the last remaining arms-control pact between Washington and Moscow, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550, deployed strategic delivery systems at 700, and provides for a verification regime.
In a statement on January 29, the Kremlin said the extension of the treaty "allows to preserve the transparency and predictability of strategic relations between Russia and the United States.â€
On January 27, Putin hailed the extension of the treaty as a positive development in reducing global tensions, saying “no doubt it is a step in the right direction."
Former President Donald Trump's administration made a late attempt to negotiate limits on other categories of nuclear weapons and add China to the treaty, stalling negotiations. A bid to agree to a shorter extension also ran into complications, leaving the fate of the treaty to the incoming administration of President Joe Biden.
More:
https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-signs-bill-extending-new-start-nuclear-arms-control-treaty/31076662.html
