The United Kingdom and the United States plan to indefinitely extend their 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement, which includes cooperation on nuclear weapons, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The US and UK plan to scrap the pact’s 10-year limit, agreed upon in 2014 and set to run out in December, the newspaper said. The intention to extend the treaty regulating technology exchange between their nuclear programs comes amid a costly modernization of their deterrent forces.
The agreement includes technology and information sharing but does not provide for the transfer of nuclear weapons or control over them.
In July, the UK and US governments proposed to remove the expiration date from the agreement in order to secure continuous bilateral cooperation. The issue is still subject to ratification in both countries. In the UK, the amendments will be ratified automatically if none of the parliament chambers pass an opposing resolution in 21 sessions.
