US Likely to Soon Decide Not to Extend New START Treaty - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

The New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the United States after the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The US likely will soon decide not to extend the New START Treaty, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stated.

"We have recently released a statement by the Foreign Ministry on the tenth anniversary of the New START treaty. The US has completely ignored this date, which is not surprising. All the signs that the US is on the threshold of making a decision not to extend this document are there", Sergei Ryabkov said.

"It is more and more doubtful" that the US will agree to continue participating in the Open Skies Treaty, enabling unarmed aerial surveillance flights over signatories' territories, the diplomat noted.

The statement comes after the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is expecting Washington to soon provide a "positive answer" to Russia's proposal to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also commented on the matter, saying that one should discuss the possible extension of the New START with Washington, since Moscow is not the party trying to break it.

The New START stipulates a reduction of the number of strategic nuclear missiles launchers by one-half and limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550. The agreement is set to expire in February 2021, and the US has so far not announced plans to extend it.