Brussels - Sana
The European Union welcomed the Russian-American agreement to extend the Treaty on Limiting Strategic Offensive Weapons "START 3" for another five years, indicating that this contributes to strengthening international security.
"The European Union welcomes the agreement of the United States and Russia to extend the period of the New START Treaty to reduce strategic weapons for another five years," said spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy commissioner Peter Stano in a statement to Sputnik.
He considered that the agreement is an important contribution to international and European security by limiting competition and enhancing stability and confidence between the two countries.
He pointed out that Brussels praises the dialogue between the United States and Russia on the New START treaty, and considers the negotiations between the two parties an important step for the future of the treaty and for reaching possible new measures to limit armaments and maintain strategic stability.
"The European Union stresses that Washington and Moscow bear a great responsibility in the field of arms control and nuclear disarmament, as they are among the countries that possess the largest nuclear stockpiles in the world," Stano said.
Yesterday, the United States and Russia announced that they had reached an initial agreement to extend the "START 3" treaty, which expires on the fifth of next February, as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov confirmed that the agreement was based on Moscow's terms.