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Turkey’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the extension of the “New START” treaty to limit strategic weapons between Washington and Moscow, for a period of 5 years.
This came in the words of ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy on Wednesday in his written response to a question about Washington’s extension of the “New START” treaty for 5 years, days after a similar move from Moscow.
Aksoy said: “We welcome and support the decision of the United States and Russia to extend the New START treaty, which will expire on February 5 (current), for a period of 5 years.”
He stressed that the “New Start”, which limits the nuclear powers of the United States and Russia, is of global importance because it is the last valid agreement that guarantees strategic stability between the two countries.
He added: “We hope that this important step will contribute to strengthening the arms control system and combating global security challenges.”
Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the extension of the “New START” treaty to limit strategic weapons with Russia, for 5 years.
Reports indicate that the extension of the “New START” treaty, which former President Donald Trump opposed and refused to extend, would be a source of pleasure for NATO and Russia alike.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on the two countries to extend the treaty that was signed on February 5, 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart at the time, Dmitry Medvedev.
The “New START” treaty kept the two countries’ arsenals at a much lower level than during the Cold War, limiting the number of strategic nuclear launchers installed to 700 and the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550.
