Russia insists on extending New START and points out that the US has not responded to the offer

Russia insisted this Wednesday on agreeing with the United States on an ‘in extremis’ extension of the New START treaty that limits the strategic nuclear weapons of both powers, ensuring that Washington has not responded to the offer launched last September.

“The president drew attention to the fact that tomorrow, February 5, the New START treaty expires. On September 22, 2025, we proposed to the Americans that the central quantitative limits be extended for one year as voluntary self-containment measures,” said the Russian presidential advisor, Yuri Ushakov, in statements collected by the Russian agency TASS.

“However, so far no official response has been received from the United States,” said the former Russian ambassador to the United States, who is part of Vladimir Putin’s closest circle.

Ushakov has stressed that before resuming dialogue to negotiate the future of the agreement, Moscow must have a clear idea of ​​how it will affect other nuclear arsenals, such as the United Kingdom or France, since the international community is interested in updating this type of treaty to the current geopolitical reality with the global rise of China.

The pact sets a maximum of 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads deployed by each country, which represented a reduction of nearly two-thirds compared to START I and approximately 10% less than the figure agreed in the Moscow Treaty.

It also limits the number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers equipped to transport and launch nuclear weapons to 800 – with an additional limit of 700 to those deployed.