{"id":56552,"date":"2021-01-31T17:26:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T17:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/31\/putin-signs-extension-of-last-russia-us-nuclear-arms-treaty\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:00:00","slug":"putin-signs-extension-of-last-russia-us-nuclear-arms-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/01\/31\/putin-signs-extension-of-last-russia-us-nuclear-arms-treaty\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin signs extension of last Russia-US nuclear arms treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill extending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States a week before the pact was due to expire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously<\/a> Wednesday to extend the New START treaty for five years<\/a>. Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden had discussed the nuclear accord a day earlier, and the Kremlin said they agreed to complete the necessary extension procedures<\/a> in the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New START expires Feb. 5. The pact\u2019s extension doesn\u2019t require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers had to ratify the move. Russian diplomats said the extension will be validated by exchanging diplomatic notes once all the procedures are completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden indicated during the U.S. presidential campaign that he favored the preservation of New START, which was negotiated during his tenure as vice president under Obama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. (Alexander Zemlianichenko\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Russia had long proposed prolonging the pact<\/a> without any conditions or changes, but the administration of former President Donald Trump waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands. The talks stalled, and months of bargaining failed to narrow differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After both Moscow and Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty<\/a> in 2019, New START is the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Russia announced that it would follow the U.S. in pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty<\/a>, which allowed surveillance flights over military facilities to help build trust and transparency between Russia and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\t