US Ready to Begin Immediate Discussions with Russia on Arms Control, Biden Says

US President Joe Biden has announced that his administration is ready to discuss immediately with the Russian Federation a new arms control framework that will replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START III), which expires in 2026.

Biden noted that even at the height of the Cold War, the US and the USSR were able to work together to ensure strategic stability.

“Today, my administration is prepared to negotiate quickly on a new arms control framework that will replace the arms reduction treaty that expires in 2026,” the White House quoted Biden as saying.

He expressed hope that Russia would be willing to resume work: “Russia needs to show that it is ready to restart efforts with the United States on nuclear weapons control,” Biden stated in a remark ahead of the review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will take place in New York from August 1 to 26, 2022. The NPT review conference is a critical event in the field of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and occurs once every five years.

The arms reduction treaty is the only framework for nuclear weapons control between the US and Russia, which Biden's administration has extended for five years, until 2026. Russia and the US had already begun clarifying the criteria for future agreements on nuclear weapons limitations, but dialogue was interrupted after the start of the military special operation in Ukraine.

As stated by the US State Department, Washington is ready to consider the possibility of a new phase of strategic dialogue with the Russian Federation, but expects evidence of a good-faith approach.