New START Treaty Ends, Removing Caps on US-Russia Nukes

The New START Treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, expires on Thursday. With its end, there will be no active treaty limiting the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years.

Experts warn that the termination of the pact could increase global nuclear risks and may lead to an uncontrolled arms race.

Russia has said it views the treaty’s expiration negatively. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow regrets the treaty ending, but added that Russia will continue to follow what it calls a “responsible” approach toward nuclear stability and will act based on its national interests.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also released a statement saying that under current circumstances, both sides are no longer bound by any treaty obligations or related declarations. It said the parties are now free to choose their next steps.

New START was signed in 2010 by then US President Barack Obama and Russia’s then President Dmitry Medvedev. The treaty limited each side to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and no more than 700 deployed missiles and bombers, meaning systems that are ready for use. The treaty was originally set to expire in 2021 but was extended for five more years.

The agreement also included strict verification rules, including on-site inspections. However, inspections stopped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never restarted.

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty. He said Moscow could not allow US inspections while Washington and NATO openly supported Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. Still, Russia did not fully withdraw and continued to say it would respect the treaty’s limits.

In September, Putin offered to continue following New START’s core limits for one more year if the United States did the same, giving both sides time to negotiate a replacement. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin discussed the treaty’s expiration with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, and added that Washington has not responded to the proposed extension.

US President Donald Trump has not committed to extending the agreement. He has said he wants China to be included in any future treaty. Trump recently told The New York Times that China should be part of the agreement if nuclear limits are continued.

China has rejected joining such talks, saying its nuclear forces are much smaller than those of the US and Russia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China regrets the treaty’s expiration but will not take part in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage. He urged the United States to resume nuclear dialogue with Russia and respond positively to Moscow’s suggestion of continuing the treaty’s limits for now.

New START was the last treaty in a long series of US-Russia nuclear arms reduction agreements. With its expiration, there is now no active pact restricting the two countries’ nuclear weapons.