Moscow has now declared that with the expiry of the agreement it no longer feels bound by restrictions on the number of its nuclear warheads. “We assume that the parties to the New Start Treaty are no longer bound by commitments or symmetrical declarations under the treaty,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Moscow intends to “act responsibly and prudently,” the Defense Ministry said. At the same time, it warned that Russia was ready to take “decisive” countermeasures if its national security was threatened. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the fact that there are no follow-up agreements, saying: “This is very bad for global security.”
The US government remained tight-lipped about its intentions. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a press conference that the US President wanted to comment on the agreement “later”, without specifying when. He also underscored Washington’s call to include China in a future agreement. “The president has made clear in the past that true arms control in the 21st century requires doing anything that does not involve China, because that country has vast and rapidly growing weapons stockpiles,” Rubio said.
China’s nuclear arsenal is growing rapidly and includes an estimated 550 strategic nuclear weapon launchers. However, the country is still well below the 800 launchers that Russia and the USA were obliged to deliver under the “New Start” agreement. The United States and Russia also have more than 80 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads.
Nuclear weapons experts accused Trump of inaction. Daryl Kimball of the gun control NGO Arms Control Association said there was no sign “that Trump or his team have taken the time to suggest risk reduction or arms control talks to China since his return to office in 2025.” He said Moscow and Washington could agree to maintain the restrictions and then put pressure on Beijing.
Before the agreement expired, Pope Leo XIV warned of a “new arms race.” “I urge you not to abandon this instrument without ensuring that it is pursued concretely and effectively,” the pope said at his weekly general audience. It is “more urgent than ever to replace the logic of fear and distrust with a common ethic capable of guiding decisions for the good of all,” said Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States.
