GERMANY-RUSSIA-US-DIPLOMACY-NUCLEAR

Peace activists wearing masks of Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and newly elected US President Joe Biden pose with mock nuclear missiles in front of the US embassy in Berlin on January 29, 2021 in an action to call for more progress in nuclear disarmament. - The Russian parliament on January 27, 2021 unanimously voted to ratify an agreement to extend by five years a key nuclear pact with the United States that was set to expire soon. Signed in 2010, the New START contract caps to 1,550 the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed by Moscow and Washington, which control the world's largest nuclear arsenals. The agreement, which was due to expire on February 5, is seen as a rare opportunity for compromise between Moscow and Washington, whose ties have dramatically deteriorated in recent years. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)