OREANDA-NEWS. As Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister, said, Russia and the United States have just agreed to extend the main missile contract between these countries - the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). It will be extended on Russian terms.

According to Sergei Ryabkov, the agreement will be written on Russian terms: for the period of five years, and without any preconditions and any possible reservations and additions.

After a telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States yesterday, they both expressed complete satisfaction at the exchange of notes on the contract on the extension of the START treaty. According to the evidence of the White House, Biden and Putin asked their employees to work on the contractas fast as possible in order to have time to extend the agreement until February 5.

As follows from the State Duma announcement, the head of the Russian Federation submitted to the State Duma a bill on the ratification of the extension agreement. The document now spelled out a five-year renewal period - until February 5, 2026.

It is recalled that today START-3 is the only arms limitation treaty between Russia and the United States, which exists today, but it expires on February 5, 2021. If it is not extended, there will be no agreements in the world limiting the military arsenals of the largest world nuclear powers.