U.S., Russia near extension of arms deal.
WASHINGTON >> The United States and Russia inched closer Tuesday to a deal to extend their last remaining arms control pact, after U.S. threats to allow the deal to expire early next year.
The two sides signaled they are ready to accept compromises to salvage the New START treaty just two weeks ahead of the U. S. presidential election in which President Donald Trump faces a strong challenge from former Vice President Joe Biden, whose campaign has accused Trump of being soft on Russia.
After the White House last week rejected a proposal from the Kremlin to keep the accord alive, calling it a “non-starter,” Moscow said Tuesday it could agree to a U. S.-proposed freeze on each side’s nuclear warheads and to extend the treaty by one year. In response, the U.S. said it was ready for a quick deal.
In a statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry outlined the shift in Moscow’s position after last week’s apparent breakdown in the talks on New START, which expires in February. It said Russia is prepared for a deal if the U. S. agrees to put forward no additional demands.
The U. S. State Department then welcomed the Russian offer.
“We appreciate the Russian Federation’s willingness to make progress on the issue of nuclear arms c ont rol,” depa r tment spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. “The United States is prepared to meet immediately to finalize a verifiable agreement. We expect Russia to empower its diplomats to do the same.”
There was no immediate indication of when the two sides might meet to conclude an agreement or what form it might take.
New START was signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The pact 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.
After both Moscow and Washing ton w ithdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year, New START was the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries.
Russia had offered to extend it without any conditions, while the Trump administration had initially insisted that it could only be renewed if China agreed to join. China has refused to consider the idea.
The U.S. recently modified its stance and proposed a one-year extension of the treaty, but said it must be coupled with the imposition of a broader cap on nuclear warheads. The cap would cover warheads attached to battlefield weapons, which are not limited by New START treaty because it only restricts strategic nuclear arsenals.
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, tweeted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was offering a deal that would fall far short of the Trump administration’s original demands, including its insistence that China become part of a new treaty.