SOURCE: MINOBORON
23 October 2020
U.S., RUSSIA PLAY CAT AND MOUSE OVER NEW START TREATY Concluded by the Barack Obama administration, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is the last remaining U.S.-Russian arms control treaty. It will expire in February 2021. Moscow has long been keen to extend the treaty yet Donald Trump demands some extra commitments. Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused, suggesting a one-year extension of the existing deal. The Kremlin believes that even after Joe Biden’s victory, the Democrats candidate will at least remain the New START treaty in force – according to what he said. It will be far worse for the Kremlin if Trump wins the ballot, throwing the last remaining pact constraining the arsenals of the world’s two major nuclear powers to the rubbish bin and thus impairing Russia’s position. 20
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