US President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a new nuclear treaty instead of extending limits on nuclear weapons deployments with Russia.
Hours after the pact that kept the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals in check for more than two decades expired, Trump said the New START treaty was “badly negotiated” and “is being grossly violated.” He wrote on Truth Social: “We should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”
Trump’s post responded to a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to extend the treaty for one more year. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), signed in 2010 by then-US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limited each side to 1,550 warheads on 700 delivery systems — missiles, aircraft and submarines. The treaty permitted a single five-year extension, which Putin and then-US President Joe Biden agreed to in 2021.
Trump did not specify which countries would be included in a new agreement. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said talks with Russia would continue. Trump has previously said China — whose nuclear arsenal is growing rapidly — should be included in any future pact, but China’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it would not participate in such an arms-reduction treaty.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia regretted the treaty’s expiration and would engage in dialogue if the US responded constructively to Putin’s proposal. He added that Russia would maintain a “responsible, thorough approach to stability when it comes to nuclear weapons,” and be guided primarily by its national interests.
The New START expiration coincided with the resumption of high-level, military-to-military dialogue between the US and Russia. The contacts followed a meeting between senior officials from both sides in Abu Dhabi on the margins of talks about the war in Ukraine. Those military contacts had been suspended in 2021 shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
US European Command said maintaining dialogue between militaries is an important factor in global stability and peace, providing a means for increased transparency and de-escalation.
Edited by: Sean Sinico