VOLGOGRAD. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The U.S. proposals to include new types of weapons in the New START Treaty should be formalized officially and discussed at the level of specialists, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov told reporters on Thursday.
"Any proposals should be formulated officially and made at the level of experts. All previous work on suggestion in the field of strategic stability confirms that. The process does not stand for any messing around and requires a great deal of time," Kosachyov said.
The previous agreement was drafted starting from the first day following the signing of its predecessor, he said. This is now the first time this has not happened.
"We live under the conditions of the New START Treaty, it will be ten years soon and for all of these ten years no one has done anything to update it or even extend it. It can be counted on that we will absolutely definitely not have enough time to do anything by February 2021," Kosachyov said.
At the least, the document may be extended, but it is up to specialists and experts to decide to what extent it will be updated, what content it will have, and what types of weapons it will regulate, he said.
The effects of the New START Treaty will end in 2021. Russia and the United States may agree to extend it by five years.
U.S. First Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who is nominated as a candidate for U.S. ambassador in Moscow, said on October 30 that Russia is making large allocations to develop new weapons, and the U.S. should address this issue, in particular, while discussing the extension of the New START Treaty.
It is likely that Russia will be prepared to meet the terms of a new START Treaty, Sullivan said. However, the sides should additionally discuss these new weapon systems, he said.