US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty expires after half a century – National
The Kremlin said on Thursday it regretted the end of the last remaining nuclear deal between Russia and the United States that left the two largest atomic stockpiles intact for the first time in more than a century.
Arms control experts say the termination of the New START Treaty could set the stage for an unrestricted nuclear arms race.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last year announced that he is ready to stick to the terms of the agreement for another year if Washington follows suit, but US President Donald Trump has not committed to extending it. He has indicated that he wants China to be part of the new deal – something Beijing has rejected.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Trump had made it clear that “in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it is impossible to do something that excludes China because of their rapidly growing number of weapons.”
Putin discussed the expiration of the agreement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, noting the failure of the US to respond to his proposal to expand the borders and saying that Russia “will act in a balanced and responsible manner based on a comprehensive analysis of the security situation,” Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow viewed the end of Thursday’s agreement “badly” and regretted it. He said Russia would maintain its “responsible, comprehensive approach to stability when it comes to nuclear weapons,” adding that “of course it will be guided primarily by its national interests.”
At the end of the agreement, Moscow “remains ready to take serious military-technical measures to combat potential threats to national security,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“At the same time, our country remains open to seeking political-cooperative ways to fully stabilize the strategic situation on the basis of equitable and beneficial negotiation solutions, if the right conditions for this cooperation are created,” said a statement issued late Wednesday.
New START, signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, limited each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear missiles and 700 bombs – in use and ready for use. It was supposed to expire in 2021 but was extended for another five years.
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The agreement envisioned sweeping on-site inspections to ensure compliance, although it was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.
In February 2023, Putin suspended Moscow’s participation, saying that Russia could not allow US testing of its nuclear facilities at a time when Washington and its NATO allies had openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. At the same time, the Kremlin has insisted that it is not withdrawing completely from the agreement, promising to respect its nuclear weapons.
When he offered in September to abide by New START’s one-year limits to buy time for the two sides to negotiate a successor treaty, Putin said the deal’s expiration would disrupt and could fuel nuclear proliferation.
New START was the last remaining agreement in a long series of agreements between Moscow and Washington to limit their nuclear weapons, beginning with SALT I in 1972.
Trump wants China for a deal
Trump has indicated that he would like to maintain limits on nuclear weapons but wants to include China in a potential new deal.
“I actually feel very strongly that if we’re going to do it, I think China should be an expansion member,” Trump told the New York Times last month. “China should be part of the deal.”
In his first term, Trump tried and failed to push for a three-way nuclear deal involving China. Beijing has refused to impose any limits on its small but growing nuclear arsenal, while urging the US to resume nuclear talks with Russia.
“China’s nuclear forces are not at the same level as those of the US and Russia, so China will not participate in denuclearization talks at this time,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday.
He said China regretted the expiration of New START, asked the US to resume nuclear dialogue with Russia soon, and responded positively to Moscow’s proposal that the two sides continue to consider the main parameters of the agreement for now.
Peskov also confirmed on Thursday that Moscow respects Beijing’s position. He and other Russian officials have repeatedly argued that any attempt to negotiate a comprehensive nuclear deal to replace the US-Russian accord should also include the nuclear weapons of NATO members France and the UK.
Arms control advocates mourn the end of NEW START and warn of the imminent threat of a new arms race.
“If the Trump administration continues to strengthen nuclear arms control negotiations with Russia and decides to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the US strategic arsenal, it will lead Russia to follow suit and encourage China to accelerate its continued build-up in an effort to maintain a retaliatory nuclear capability,” said the director of the United States Arsenal Kimyl.
“Such a situation could lead to a three-year nuclear build-up, which is dangerous.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
