Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow is ready for a dialogue on the extension of the Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms (START, START-3).
He expressed hope that there is a chance to come to an agreement with the administration of the new US President Joe Biden before the expiration of the agreement.
“Russia is open to a substantive dialogue on the extension of the START Treaty <...> The ball is on Washington’s side – we are waiting for constructive proposals,” RIA Novosti quoted him on Thursday, January 21.
According to Antonov, the administration of the previous head of state, Donald Trump, put forward unacceptable conditions for the extension of the agreement. In this regard, he expressed the hope that the new leadership will proceed from more “sound” and “realistic” principles.
Earlier, the candidate for the post of US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said that the Biden administration intends to seek an extension of the START Treaty. In turn, the candidate for the post of head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin stressed that the extension of START is in the interests of US national security.
The START Treaty will expire in 2021. The document was signed by Russia and the United States in 2010. Moscow has repeatedly called on Washington to extend the treaty, but the United States put forward a number of conditions that were unacceptable for Russia.