- New START limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 per side.
- Arms control is key to strategic security between Russia and the US.
Moscow’s proposals in connection with the New START agreement are intended to prevent negative global scenarios. Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov announced this on Wednesday. TASR informs about it based on the reports of Reuters and TASS agencies.
“It is important to emphasize how relevant and useful our initiative is after the START program ends. If, for any reason, the US side rejects it or expands its capabilities in this area, the strategic security situation will deteriorate, tensions will increase, and predictability will plummet, if not disappear altogether.“, warned Riabkov.
The New START Treaty is the last valid arms control agreement between Russia and the US, the largest nuclear powers. It was signed in 2010 in Prague by the then presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev and entered into force in February 2011. It limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 per side, down nearly 30 percent from the previous 2002 limit.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered that Russia would abide by New START restrictions for a year after its expiration if the United States did the same. The treaty, if not extended or replaced by another agreement, will expire in February 2026. Trump responded in October that it sounded like a good idea.
