Reuters, Moscow :
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, said he expects U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to extend the last major nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington when it expires next month, but that the two countries have much more to do.
In an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency published on Monday, Gorbachev, 89, said he was counting on Biden, whom he said he had met many times, to extend the New START treaty.
The pact limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads, deployed missiles and heavy bombers the world’s two biggest nuclear powers can have and is widely regarded as the cornerstone of global arms control.
“During the election campaign, he (Biden) said that the treaty must be extended,” said Gorbachev. “But I think that is just the first step. We need to agree on further cuts. We need to discuss and adjust military doctrines.”
