GENEVA (AN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday offered to immediately renew the New START nuclear weapons treaty between his country and the United States, without any preconditions or more discussions and well ahead of its expiration in February 2021.
The decade-long U.S.-Russia nuclear pact known as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, took effect in February 2011. It replaced the START treaty, which was in effect from 1994 to 2009. With an extensive verification program, both sides met the 2018 deadline to reduce their strategic nuclear forces to no more than 1,550 warheads on 700 deployed missiles or bombers.
