WASHINGTON, August 27. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump would like to conclude a new agreement that will replace the Russia-US New START Treaty, US Air Force Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Andrew Gebara said.

"[US] President [Donald Trump], at his core, is a negotiator, and he is interested in making the world safer. I'm sure he would love to do a deal, but that deal has to have certain criteria," he said, commenting on the situation around the New START Treaty, which is set to expire in February 2026.

Gebara also noted that, once the limitations imposed by the treaty on Moscow and Washington expire, the Pentagon will be prepared to increase the number of deployed nuclear warheads at Trump’s decision. At the same time, the defense official noted that this is hardly likely. "The president may or may not elect to keep our numbers where they are, or he may change those numbers. We train and are prepared to add to those numbers, if ordered to do so. If not, then we won't. It's that simple," Gebara emphasized.

"I would just say it's important for us to remember [that] some of the arms control treaties in history were done at some of the hottest times of the Cold War. So I don't think it's true to say that, because of the current international situation, there's no hope for arms control," the defense official noted.

About New START Treaty

The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as the New START Treaty, was signed by Russia and the United States in 2010. On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the treaty without withdrawing from it. He stressed that before resuming work under the treaty, Russia must understand how New START would factor into the nuclear arsenals of other NATO countries, such as the United Kingdom and France. On February 28, 2023, Putin signed a law suspending Russia’s participation in the treaty.

The document stipulates that, seven years after its entry into force, each party should possess no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic bombers; no more than 1,550 warheads on deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers; and no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and strategic bombers.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty, which the Russian government characterized as the gold standard in the disarmament sphere, for a five-year period until 2026.