The Biden administration wants to extend the New START treaty with Russia for another five years, the Pentagon thinks the deal will ensure the safety of Americans.

"The president has long made it clear that the New Strategic Assault Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) serves US security interests. An appointment will be even more meaningful when relations with Russia are confrontational.

The Pentagon also issued a statement saying the American people would be "much safer" if the treaty was maintained and extended.

This is one of the first major foreign policy decisions of the US President Joe Biden administration.

The binding treaty allows the US and Russia to deploy no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads, the lowest level in decades.

Former President Donald Trump does not want to extend New START because he believes that the treaty does not fully list Russia's nuclear weapons, and wants to bring China into a broader arms control framework.

The Kremlin said on January 20 that it remains committed to extending the New START treaty and welcomes the efforts promised by the Biden administration to reach the agreement.

President Biden also assigned the US intelligence community to comprehensively evaluate cyber attacks against many government agencies, as well as charges against Russia such as meddling in the US election in 2020, poisoning.

"Even if we work with Russia to advance American interests, we will hold them accountable for their confrontational and reckless actions," added Psaki.