The US military department reacted with approval to the decision of the new US President Joe Biden to extend the Treaty with Russia on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START III).
Earlier, Trump tore up several similar agreements and announced his desire to sign a new pact with the involvement of not only the Russian Federation, but also China.
“Russia’s compliance with this treaty has served our national interests well, and the Americans will be much safer if START III is maintained and extended,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on this occasion.
He also explained that if START III is not extended, this will soon lead to the fact that America will become less aware of the state of Russian long-range nuclear forces. If the agreement is valid until 2026, Russia and the United States will have the necessary time to develop “verifiable arms control agreements that could further reduce the risk for the United States.”
The Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in 2010 by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his American counterpart Barack Obama. The agreement came into force in 2011 and expires in February 2021.
The terms of the agreement limit the parties’ nuclear arsenals to 1,550 warheads, while the number of ICBMs, submarine ballistic missiles and heavy bombers that can be used as delivery vehicles should be limited to 700.
