MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The agreement on arms control between the United States and Russia, proposed by US President Donald Trump, should not substitute the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house) Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky said on Wednesday.

"Trump again said that he intends to strike an arms control deal with Russia. I hope not instead of extending the New START. The New START extension will provide [us] with necessary time to safely create a formula of strategic stability in the altered military and strategic environment," he wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Donald Trump affirmed that the US and Russia will in the end reach a deal on arms control in an interview with the C-SPAN TV channel. On Tuesday, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said that Washington would officially withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) on August 2. Moreover, he said that it was unlikely that the New START would be extended. Bolton pointed to the importance of holding trilateral talks with Russia and China in the arms control sphere.