PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2021) France welcomes the wish of the new US administration led by President Joe Biden to prolong the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for five years, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said.
On Friday, the White House confirmed that Biden would seek a five-year extension of the nuclear arms reduction treaty, which is set to expire on February 5.
"France welcomes the decision of President [Joe] Biden to propose the 5-year prolongation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to Russia," the spokesperson said on late Friday.
According to the French Foreign Ministry, the possible extension of the treaty will make a significant contribution to maintaining strategic stability and will be a positive signal on the threshold of the 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons scheduled for August.
New START has been in force since 2011 and is the only remaining legally binding agreement on nuclear arms control between Russia and the United States. The treaty limits each country's nuclear arsenal to 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 1,550 nuclear warheads and 800 launchers.
