Statement by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the States members of the CSTO regarding the extension of the term of the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the USA on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms

May 19, 2021, Dushanbe

The States members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) welcome the conclusion by the Russian Federation and the United States of America of an agreement to extend the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms of 8 April 2010. 

The extension of the Treaty will help to ensure transparency and predictability in the relations between the two largest nuclear Powers, to strengthen international security and to restore confidence, and will lay the groundwork for comprehensive negotiations on the future of arms control with due consideration of all the factors bearing on the situation. 

The implementation by the parties of the agreement on the extension of the Treaty – thus reaffirming their commitment to uphold their obligations under article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – will help to advance the nuclear disarmament process by making it more multilateral in nature and will have a positive impact on the international environment in general. 

The CSTO member States regard the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms as an essential element of modern arms control architecture and international security and stability, based on the principles of equal rights, mutual consideration of interests and indivisible security, and encourage Russia and the United States to engage in substantive dialogue on the development of a new “security equation” that includes all nuclear and non-nuclear offensive and defensive weapons capable of meeting strategic objectives.