The United States sees value in the New START arms control treaty with Russia, despite Washington's concerns about Moscow's track record on arms control and other issues, senior US officials said on Friday. The remarks by the Trump administration officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, suggest the treaty will remain in force and the door remains open to pursuing an extension of the accord, which is set to expire in 2021.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, the lowest level in decades. It also limits deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers. Reuters has reported that President Donald Trump, in his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized the New START treaty, saying it favored Moscow.
But one of the Trump administration officials said on Friday the United States was not looking to discard New START. Senior US officials, including US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, have questioned Russia's reliability on arms control, citing longstanding US allegations that Russia has violated the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia denies treaty violations and accuses the United States of them.