Moscow, February 7: Russia and the United States have recognized the urgent need to initiate discussions on the New START treaty, a strategic arms reduction agreement. This announcement was made by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday.
Peskov indicated that the topic was raised during recent talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where both parties agreed on the necessity of adopting a responsible approach. He described the discussions in Abu Dhabi as constructive yet “quite difficult.” He also mentioned that conversations on this issue will continue. This information was reported by the Xinhua news agency.
A second round of trilateral talks on the Ukraine issue took place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday, involving delegations from Russia, the United States, and Ukraine. While Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on a large-scale prisoner exchange, no substantial progress was made on critical issues such as regional order and ceasefire.
As the world’s two largest nuclear powers, the United States and Russia hold approximately 87 percent of global nuclear weapons. The New START treaty, which came into effect in 2011, was extended for five years in 2021 and has long been viewed as the cornerstone of bilateral strategic stability. Under this treaty, both nations are limited to a maximum of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, with restrictions also placed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers.
However, former President Donald Trump criticized the New START treaty on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling it a “badly negotiated agreement” and claiming it is being “grossly violated.” He argued that extending this treaty is not in the best interest of the United States.
Instead, Trump has called for a “new, better, and modern treaty” that could remain effective for a longer duration. This suggests that Washington is looking to move beyond the current framework rather than maintain it.
On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that after the treaty’s expiration, it believes both parties are no longer bound by any obligations under the agreement.
Trump’s skepticism regarding arms control agreements is not new. During his first term, the United States decided to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, arguing that the agreement did not reflect the current strategic landscape and failed to effectively deter rivals.
With the expiration of the New START treaty, the last remaining security framework for arms control between Washington and Moscow will also come to an end. This development not only impacts the relationship between the two countries but also creates a strategic void on a global scale. Nuclear weapons control has now entered an uncertain phase, with the geopolitical environment becoming more fragile and unstable than ever before.
