WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) US Special Representative for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea in a statement on Monday said he updated NATO allies on the status of negotiations with Moscow and showed them new intelligence on Russia and China.
"Updates NATO allies on the status of negotiations with Russia, including my conversation this morning with DFM [Sergey] Ryabkov," Billingslea said in the statement. "Also, previewed new intelligence on both Russia and China that the US will share with the NAC [North Atlantic Council] tomorrow."
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested extending the bilateral arms deal for one year, without any conditions, so that the two sides could discuss all the parameters of the arms control during this period.
Putin said that a world without the New START treaty would represent a full-blown threat.
US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said Russia's proposal was "a non-starter." The United States had earlier suggested extending the treaty for one year if Moscow and Washington froze the number of their nuclear warheads for that period.
The United States abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia in August 2019. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last major arms control deal between the US and Russia, expires on February 5, 2021.
