US and Russia ready to freeze number of nuclear warheads

The US was ready to meet with Russia “immediately” and finalize an agreement on nuclear weapons, the State Department said on Tuesday.

“We expect Russia to empower its diplomats to do the same,” the US officials said in a brief statement.

The two countries seek a way to keep the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) alive past its expiration date in February 2021. The deal limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads, missiles, and bombers. With both Moscow and Washington leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) last year, the New START is the only major accord on nuclear weapons still in place between the rival powers.