VIENNA, January 13. /TASS/. The last quantitative restrictions on Russian and US nuclear weapons will be gone after February 5 when the New START Treaty expires, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov warned.
"In 23 days, the last quantitative cap on strategic nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia will cease to exist," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The United States, in his words, seems to be unwilling to accept Russia’s proposal to continue adhering to the treaty's key provisions for another year after it expires in February. In this context, he drew attention to US President Donald Trump’s recent statements and called them an "absolute pipe dream, a far cry from reality."
Earlier this month, Trump told The New York Times that he was unbothered by the impending expiration of the New START treaty. "If it expires, it expires. We’ll just do a better agreement," he said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s new Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Dmitry Polyansky, who previously served as First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told TASS that Moscow hopes that the US administration will respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative on preserving the limitations imposed by the New START treaty in the format of voluntary self-restrictions after the document expires.
About the treaty
The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) was signed in 2010 and entered into force on February 5, 2011. The document stipulates that seven years after its entry into effect each party should have no more than a total of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers, as well as no more than 1,550 warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs and strategic bombers, and a total of 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and strategic bombers. The Treaty was signed for a term of ten years, until February 5, 2021, with a possibility of a further extension upon the parties’ mutual consent.
In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty, described by the Russian authorities as the golden standard in the sphere of disarmament, for the maximal possible five years.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 21, 2023 that Russia was suspending its participation in New START but was not withdrawing from it. The president stressed that before returning to the discussion of the extension of the treaty, the Russian side wanted to understand how New START will take into account not only the United States’ arsenals but also stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France.
On September 22, Putin stated at a meeting with the Russian Security Council that Russia was prepared to continue adhering to the treaty's quantitative restrictions for another year after the New START expires in February. However, he emphasized that this measure is only viable if Washington follows suit.