Russia, US exchange documents to extend nuclear pact

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Tuesday that Russia and the United States exchanged documents to extend the New START nuclear treaty.

Both sides will now complete the necessary formalities in the coming days, the Kremlin said.

Lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled parliament said it would complete the necessary moves to extend the pact this week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow and Washington were making quick progress to negotiate an extension of their last remaining nuclear arms control treaty.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed a five-year extension of the New START treaty that is set to expire on Feb. 5, and the Kremlin quickly welcomed the offer.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian ambassador at the international organizations in Vienna, said that Russia and the U.S. “are making remarkable and speedy progress” on the pact's extension.

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

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, also said Monday that “the treaty must be preserved," adding that "we are now on the verge of that decision to be made and published.”

The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.

Biden indicated during the campaign that he favored the preservation of the New START treaty, which was negotiated during his tenure as U.S. vice president.

Russia has long proposed to prolong the pact without any...