MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. After the expiration of the New START Treaty, Russia should increase production of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile systems for nuclear deterrence against France and the United Kingdom, military analyst and editor-in-chief of National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko told TASS.

"Russia needs to scale up serial production of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which provide nuclear deterrence against the United Kingdom and France. And the freed-up intercontinental-class strategic carriers could be entirely redirected toward deterring the United States," the analyst said, commenting on Moscow's possible actions after the termination of the New START Treaty.

According to the expert, Russia’s main goal is to possess a guaranteed retaliatory strike capability using the Strategic Missile Forces weapons, specifically the ground-mobile missile systems. "Our main goal is to have a guaranteed retaliatory strike capability using the Strategic Missile Forces structure that the enemy will be unable to destroy under any, even the most unfavorable, scenario. I’m referring, in particular, to the Yars ground-mobile missile system. Incidentally, the Oreshnik is mounted on the same chassis. It will also be highly resilient in deployment areas," Korotchenko noted.

About the New START Treaty

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in April 2010 by the presidents of the United States and Russia and entered into force on February 5, 2011. It established strict quantitative limits on the deployed strategic nuclear forces of both countries.

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START Treaty, but not withdrawing from it. Before returning to dialogue on the Treaty, Russia wanted to understand how the arsenals of other NATO nuclear powers – the United Kingdom and France – would be accounted for. At the same time, Moscow and Washington stated that they would voluntarily continue to adhere to the Treaty’s main quantitative limits until its expiration.

On September 22, 2025, Vladimir Putin announced at a meeting with the Russian Security Council that Moscow was prepared to adhere to the stated limits for another year after the New START Treaty expires in February 2026. He emphasized that this measure was feasible only if Washington followed suit. A few days later, US President Donald Trump praised the Russian leader’s initiative, but no official response to Moscow’s proposal was received from Washington.

Thus, on February 5, 2026, the New START Treaty officially lapsed. This means that for the first time since 1972, there are no legally binding agreements on nuclear arms limitations between the two largest nuclear powers.