Russia warns about the expiring nuclear treaty with the US

“Time is passing quickly and will be in a more dangerous situation than ever in the next few days. For the first time, the US and Russia, the two countries possessing the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, will no longer have any basic documents to limit and establish control over them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference on February 3.

According to Mr. Peskov, the end of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) on February 5 “will be very bad for security around the world and strategic security.” He confirmed that Russia’s proposal is still valid, but has not received a response from the US.

The US has not commented on the above information.

At a meeting with the Security Council of the Russian Federation in September 2025, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is ready to comply with restrictions under the New START framework for another year after the treaty expires, but this measure is only feasible if the US follows suit.

However, US President Donald Trump has signaled that the US will not extend the current treaty. “If it expires, let it expire. We will sign a better agreement,” he said on January 7.

New START, also known as START III, was signed by the US and Russia in 2010 and took effect a year later. The two countries then extended the treaty for another 5 years in 2021. Negotiations to extend the agreement in recent years between the US and Russia broke down due to tensions between the two countries, including the Ukraine issue.

The New START Treaty stipulates that each side must not deploy more than 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) ​​and bombers carrying nuclear weapons, and the number of nuclear warheads on these means must not exceed 1,550.

Russia and the United States can both exceed this limit if New START is not extended or replaced by another agreement.