US, Russia making ‘remarkable’ progress on extension of nuclear arms control treaty, diplomat says

The Kremlin and the Biden administration are making “remarkable” progress toward an extension of the New START treaty, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday, referring to the pact governing the deployment of nuclear warheads and other equipment.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the ambassador leading Russia’s consulate in Vienna, Austria, tweeted that “remarkable and speedy progress” is being made toward the extension of the nuclear arms control treaty, which is set to expire next month.

“There are reasons to expect that the relevant agreement can become a reality very soon,” Ulyanov added.

Apparently #Russia and #US are making remarkable and speedy progress on extension of #START Treaty. There are reasons to expect that the relevant agreement can become a reality very soon.

— Mikhail Ulyanov (@Amb_Ulyanov) January 26, 2021

His remarks come as multiple news outlets reported that the U.S. and Russia on Tuesday exchanged documents necessary to begin a formal extension of the treaty. 

On the same day, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and President Biden spoke on the phone about a range of topics including the treaty as well as the arrest of Alexei Navalny, a top opposition leader who recently recovered from a poisoning attack that was blamed on Kremlin intelligence operatives.

NEW: Pres. Biden called Russian Pres. Putin today to “reaffirm our strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty” and to “raise matters of concern,” including interference in 2020 elections and Navalny poisoning. https://t.co/lUV4RYPGMO pic.twitter.com/h1rVjQSBqM

— ABC News (@ABC) January 26, 2021

The New START treaty was negotiated while Biden served in the Obama administration. 

Last week, Russia’s government appeared to swipe at the Trump administration for not pursuing an extension of the treaty more vigorously.

“We expect that the new U.S. administration will take a more constructive approach in its dialogue with us,” said Russia’s foreign ministry in a statement carried by The Moscow Times.

“We are ready for such work on principles of equal rights and taking mutual interests into account,” it continued.