Russian and American officials say discussions are needed “as soon as possible” after the expiration of the New START treaty, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without formal limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russian and U.S. officials have acknowledged the need to quickly begin new arms control negotiations following the expiration of the New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms agreement between the two countries, according to statements from the Kremlin.
The treaty expired Thursday, eliminating caps on U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years and intensifying concerns about the potential for an unconstrained nuclear arms race. Russian and American negotiators discussed the issue during meetings in the United Arab Emirates, where delegations from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States also held two days of talks focused on a potential settlement to the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the nuclear issue was addressed during discussions in Abu Dhabi and that both sides recognized the urgency of restarting talks.
“There is an understanding, and they talked about it in Abu Dhabi, that both parties will take responsible positions and both parties realize the need to start talks on the issue as soon as possible,” Peskov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Moscow is prepared to continue observing the treaty’s limits for another year if Washington agreed to do the same. President Donald Trump declined the offer, instead reiterating his position that any future agreement should include China, a proposal Beijing has rejected.
“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote Thursday on his Truth Social account.
Peskov dismissed reports that Russia and the United States were considering an informal arrangement to temporarily abide by the treaty’s limits. Asked about an Axios report suggesting a possible six-month informal extension, he said any continuation of the agreement would have to be formal.
“Obviously its provisions can only be extended in a formal way,” Peskov said. “It’s hard to imagine any informal extension in this sphere.”
Moscow has said it views the treaty’s expiration negatively and regrets its end. At the same time, Peskov indicated Russia remains open to dialogue if Washington responds constructively.
Even as New START lapsed, both countries agreed to restore high-level military-to-military contacts. The U.S. military command in Europe said Thursday that the two sides would reestablish direct communication links following a meeting of senior officials in Abu Dhabi. Those contacts had been suspended in 2021 as relations between Moscow and Washington deteriorated ahead of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022.
Signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, New START was the final agreement in a decades-long series of arms control pacts dating back to the 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The treaty limited each side to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads on no more than 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Originally set to expire in 2021, it was extended for five additional years.
The agreement included provisions for extensive on-site inspections to verify compliance, but those inspections were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed. In February 2023, Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the treaty, citing U.S. and NATO positions on the conflict in Ukraine, while maintaining that Moscow would continue to respect the treaty’s limits.
Putin later warned that allowing the treaty to expire without a replacement would be destabilizing and could accelerate nuclear proliferation, arguing that a temporary extension would provide time for negotiations on a successor agreement.
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