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Russian ICBM at a military parade in Moscow
Photo: DMITRY KOSTYUKOV / AFP
When it comes to disarmament, Russia and the USA have recently been at odds with each other, and recently both sides have withdrawn from the arms control treaty "Open Skies 2".
Now the two largest nuclear powers in the world could converge at least in part.
US President Joe Biden apparently wants to extend the last major nuclear disarmament treaty "New Start" with Russia.
As the news agency dpa and the Washington Post unanimously report, Biden, like Moscow, wants to agree to an extension of the agreement for five years.
An official confirmation was still pending.
Experts recently expressed concern that the danger of a nuclear war had recently risen again, among other things due to the escalative foreign policy of the Trump administration.
The »New Start« contract on the limitation of nuclear weapons expires at the beginning of February - that is, in a good two weeks.
The agreement, which came into force on February 5, 2011, limits the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 operational nuclear warheads each.
It was initially closed for a period of ten years.
The government of Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, had recently been unable to agree on an extension with Moscow in tough months of negotiations.
Trump administration wanted to involve China
According to the US media, the sticking point of the talks was the "freezing" of the number of all nuclear warheads in both countries, which the US had insisted on.
The current treaty only sets a limit on the number of operational nuclear warheads.
In addition, the previous US government had sought a multilateral agreement with China's participation.
Beijing has so far refused to negotiate its growing nuclear arsenal.
Immediately after Biden was sworn in, the Russian Foreign Ministry finally proposed extending the contract for five years without any preconditions.
Before that, Russian President Putin had only offered a one-year extension.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg hopes for stronger arms control
If the treaty were to expire without renewal, there would be no agreement for the first time in decades that set limits to the stock of strategic nuclear weapons.
Russia and the USA together own around 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the extension of the agreement could mark the beginning of efforts to further strengthen arms control.
One will also have to look at weapon systems that have not yet been covered by the New Start contract.
He also called for China to be included.
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fek / dpa / Reuters