WASHINGTON, February 5. /TASS/. The United States has decided to start a new nuclear arms race and try to outpace Russia, Professor Peter Kuznick, Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at the American University in Washington, has told TASS while commenting on the situation surrounding the Russian-American Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START).
"Now, instead of diplomacy, the US is banking on its ability to outproduce Russia and win a nuclear arms race," the American expert is convinced. Furthermore, he noted with alarm, there are also US nuclear experts who believe "the US can fight and win a simultaneous nuclear war against Russia, China, and North Korea" and gain the upper hand in such a conflict. "The last thing the world needs today is a new nuclear arms race between the US and Russia. We were very lucky to have survived the first one. All bets are off this time," Kuznik emphasized.
He expressed regret over Washington's course regarding the New START. US President Donald Trump decided to act this way, "officially ignoring President Putin's completely reasonable proposal" to keep the treaty's central restrictions in place for a year so that Moscow and Washington could "negotiate a new one" of this kind, Kuznick said.
"But Trump has developed illusions of omnipotence in his second term," Kuznick noted wryly. He emphasized that Trump bombed "seven countries in his first year back in power, including Iran." "He has also kidnapped Venezuela's Maduro and threatened numerous other countries," Kuznick added.
US Secretary of State remarks
As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated earlier at a press conference, commenting on the upcoming expiration of the New START Treaty on February 5, the Trump administration believes that "to have true arms control in the 21st century, it's impossible to do something that doesn't include China." Rubio, who is also Trump's national security adviser, described China's nuclear stockpile as "vast and rapidly growing." Rubio's statements may indicate that Trump has decided not to agree to Putin's New START proposals.
The treaty was signed in 2010. Putin announced in February 2023 that Moscow was suspending its participation in the agreement, but not withdrawing from it. He emphasized that before returning to discussions on continuing the treaty, the Russian side must have an understanding of how it will account for the arsenals of not only the US, but also other NATO nuclear powers - Britain and France. According to the terms of the document, each side will reduce its strategic offensive arms so that, seven years after its entry into force and thereafter, their total numbers will not exceed 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers (HBs), 1,550 warheads on them, and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers of ICBMs, SLBMs, and HBs. Putin announced at a meeting with the Russian Security Council last September that Moscow is prepared to continue adhering to the document's quantitative restrictions for another year after the New START expires. However, he noted, this measure is viable only if Washington acts in a similar manner. Responding to a TASS question on October 5, 2025, Trump called Putin's proposal a good idea. However, the United States has taken no practical action in response to Russia's proposals.