Kathmandu. February 4. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced that the United States has extended the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(New START) for the next five years with Russia. 

Blinken said in a statement “Today, the United States took the first step toward making good on that pledge when it extended the New START Treaty with the Russian Federation for five years.”

New START is a nuclear disarmament treaty which was initially signed in April 2010 and was entered into force in February 2011. With the new extension, New START is expected to last until 5 February 2026. The two countries had agreed that the treaty can be extended up to a maximum of 5 years upon the consent of both of the governments. 

During the tenure of Donald Trump’s administration, both of the sides had engaged in several rounds of negotiating talks, but they could not finalize the formal agreement. However, immediately after joining the office, President Joe Biden proposed a full extension of the treaty that was scheduled to expire on Feb. 5. “President Biden pledged to keep the American people safe from nuclear threats by restoring U.S. leadership on arms control and nonproliferation,” said Blinken.

On Friday, the Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the proposal and signed the legislation regarding the extension. News reports suggest that the extension of New START is likely to strengthen the US-Russia relations.