WASHINGTON: The US expects to engage with Russia soon for a discussion of prospects for nuclear disarmament, US President Donald Trump sa...
WASHINGTON: The US expects to engage with Russia soon for a discussion of prospects for nuclear disarmament, US President Donald Trump said.
He was responding to a question from TASS about chances of Washington and Moscow making a deal to replace the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, a treaty also known as New START.
"That's not an agreement you want expiring. We're starting to work on that," he told reporters outside the White House.
"It's a problem for the world," the president said, referring to the upcoming expiration of the New START treaty. "When you take off nuclear restrictions, that's a big problem."
When told that he earlier called for the US and Russia to cut their nuclear weapons stockpiles, Trump said he would like to see that happen.
New START
Under the treaty, both sides committed to reducing their strategic offensive arms so that, seven years after the treaty’s entry into force and thereafter, the total number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers would not exceed 700. Additionally, the total number of warheads on these delivery systems was capped at 1,550. The treaty also limited the number of deployed and non-deployed launchers — ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers — to 800.
The original 10-year term of the agreement expired on February 5, 2021. However, it had a clause allowing to extend it by mutual consent. In February 2021, Moscow and Washington agreed to prolong the treaty for the maximum possible period of five years. Russian officials then described the treaty as the "gold standard" in disarmament efforts.
Since his inauguration in January, Trump has publicly signaled several times his desire to hold talks with the leaders of Russia and China in the foreseeable future on further limitation and reduction of nuclear weapons, but he has not yet put forward any concrete initiatives to this effect. Moscow and Washington will have to decide, among other things, whether they will put together a new treaty to replace the New START, which expires in early 2026.
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