Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden agreed in a telephone conversation to extend the START-3 Treaty, the Kremlin press service reported.
"The presidents expressed satisfaction with the exchange of diplomatic notes today on reaching an agreement to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. In the coming days, the sides will complete all necessary procedures to ensure the further functioning of this important international legal mechanism for the mutual limitation of nuclear missile arsenals," the statement said.
Later it became known that Putin submitted for ratification to the State Duma an agreement on the prolongation of the treaty. It is expected that the law will come into force on the day of its official publication. In the accompanying documents, it is stated that the agreement is proposed to extend until February 5, 2026.
According to reporters, the head of the Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, deputies will be offered to consider a draft law on January 27.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the International Committee of the Russian Federation Council, expects the Senators to ratify the law at the session of the chamber on Wednesday.
START III
The START-3 treaty, which went into effect on February 5, 2011, calls for reducing the two countries' nuclear arsenals so that together they do not exceed 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers, as well as 1,550 warheads and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers.
Today, this is the only arms limitation treaty in force between Russia and the United States.
Donald Trump's administration believed that in its current form it was not in Washington's interests. The White House insisted on working out a new agreement involving China or on extending START with additional conditions. Moscow proposed prolonging the treaty without any conditions and freezing the existing nuclear arsenals, but Trump rejected this initiative.
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Based on materials from RIA Novosti