Putin signs law extending New START nuclear treaty with US

Agencies | Moscow

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law approving the extension of the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States on Friday, according to the Kremlin.

The Russian parliament had signed off on extending the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty for five years on Wednesday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Putin had earlier described the decision as "a step in the right direction" and had repeatedly warned of a costly new arms race should the treaty, which was due to expire in a few days, fall apart.

The Trump administration had negotiated with Russia on the issue, but had been unable to reach a deal.

The New START agreement went into effect in 2011 and establishes a deal between the United States and Russia setting controls on weapons stockpiles and allowing inspections.

The two countries control about 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons stockpile. New START limits the two countries to 1,550 ready-to-launch nuclear warheads and 800 launch systems each.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, the US and Russia have mainly bought themselves more time to negotiate a new agreement that could involve other nuclear powers as well as other types of weapons.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden and Putin held an initial call in which Biden had reiterated that the US wanted to extend the treaty.