S.

The State Duma voted unanimously to extend the new start treaty for five years.

The vote came a day after U.

S.

President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin reached a deal, and we're joined by DW correspondents Emily Sherwood in Moscow and NATO expert Teri Schultz in Brussels.

Welcome to both of you, Terry.

Russia and the US, as you mentioned, have agreed to extend the new start nuclear arms control treaty.

What does it tell you?

Um, that extension about the Russian on the U.

S.

Defense strategies?

Well, Sarah, what it tells us is that the US Russian relationship remains constant in some ways dating back in fact, to the U.

S.

Soviet relationship.

And that is that whether things are going well, as they have in some periods between Washington and Moscow or poorly, as most people would say, they are right now, both sides acknowledged that you do not use your nuclear arsenals for leverage on other issues.

And so while arms control advocates and the Biden administration will no doubt be pleased that the Russian Duma acted so quickly to approve the extension.

This was basically a win win for both sides, and it is in fact, what most experts expected to happen.

And President Biden has been methodically careful to let everyone know that he has very real concerns with Russia on other issues and that he's not going to let this slide.

So I predict a very rocky relationship ahead between President Biden and Putin and Emily.

I'm wondering if you will agree with that.

Perhaps you could give us the view there from Russia and tell us how Putin is likely to get alone with President Biden.

Well, I think Russian officials from the beginning never had any illusions or high hopes about the Biden administration and about UM, kind of relations between the US and Russia improving under Joe Biden.

I think in a way, they're low.

Expectations were kind of confirmed yesterday in that telephone call between Biden and Putin, Um, where apparently Biden confronted Putin over hacking accusations he talked to him about the poisoning of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and about the conflict in Ukraine sort of demonstrating, I think from the beginning that hey wants to be tough on human rights issues, for example, and I think that was to be expected from the Russian side.

They knew that was coming.

But in a way, I think the Biden administration, surprisingly enough, will be in some ways easier to deal with.

For the Russians more predictable, they stick to the rules.

And this extension of the new start treaty shows that, in a way shows that Biden is willing to keep to treaties.

Trump here was known as kind of a bull in the China shop of international relations, leaving treaties left and right.

And he, in a way, was a huge disappointment.

I think to the Russians, Biden will be tough but easier to deal with in more predictable for the Russians.

I think in some ways Emily Sherwin with the view from Moscow, Teri Schultz joining us from Brussels.