After Biden-Putin phone call, Russia's lower house of Parliament approves New START nuclear control treaty
Biden and Putin
Russia's lower house of Parliament today approved the extension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States after the Kremlin said both countries had reached a deal to extend the pact which was signed in 2010.
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All 399 lawmakers voted for the extension with no absentations. The country's upper house is due to vote on the extension later today. After the legislation is approved by both Houses it will be signed by President Putin.
The treaty which expires next week on February 5 sets the limits to the number of nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that the US and Russia can possess.
The bill to extend the pact was ratified after President Putin had a phone call with new US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. "They discussed both countries’ willingness to extend New START for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension by Feb. 5," the White House had said.
"They also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues," the White House added.
The New START caps the number of nuclear warheads between Moscow and Washington to 1,550.The Russian President hailed the move saying the "extension of New START is step in the right direction".
The US had signed the pactduring Obama's presidency. However, tensions continue between the two countries as the White House said: "President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies.
Biden raised other matter of concern with the Russian president including the Alexei Navalny poisoning row and the cyber attack by alleged Russian hackers who targeted US tech company SolarWinds Corp recently.