Russia to keep nuclear limits for 1 more year post-US treaty

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow will adhere to nuclear arms limits for one more year under the last remaining nuclear pact with the United States expires that expires in February and urged Washington to follow suit.

Putin said that the termination of the 2010 New START would have negative consequences for global stability and could fuel proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“To avoid provoking a further strategic arms race and to ensure an acceptable level of predictability and restraint, we believe it is justified to try to maintain the status quo established by the New START Treaty during the current, rather turbulent period,” he said in televised remarks.

“Therefore, Russia is prepared to keep adhering to the central quantitative limitations of the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026.”

• 1,550 DEPLOYED NUCLEAR WARHEADS LIMIT

• The New START, signed by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Its looming expiration and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal have worried arms control advocates.

• The pact also envisaged sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance, but they have been dormant since 2020.

Putin added that “based on our analysis of the situation, we will subsequently make a decision on maintaining these voluntary self-restraints.”

He said that Russia expected the US to follow its example and also stick to the treaty’s limits.

“We believe this measure will only be viable if the United States acts in a similar manner and does not take steps that undermine or disrupt the existing balance of deterrence potentials,” the Russian leader said.

Interceptors in space

Putin instructed Russian agencies to “closely monitor relevant American activities, particularly with regard to the strategic offensive arms arsenal,” with a particular emphasis on plans to “expand the strategic components of the US missile defence system, including preparations for the deployment of interceptors in space.”

“The practical implementation of such destabilizing actions could undermine our efforts to maintain the status quo in the strategic offensive arms sphere,” Putin warned, adding that, in that case, “we will respond accordingly.”

He emphasised that Moscow’s honoring the pact’s limits could “make a significant contribution to creating an atmosphere conducive to substantive strategic dialogue with the US,” provided that other efforts are also taken to normalize bilateral relations.

In February 2023, Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow US inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its Nato allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal.

At the same time, Russia has emphasized that it was not withdrawing from the pact altogether and pledged to respect the caps on nuclear weapons set under the treaty and keep notifying the U.S. about test launches of ballistic missiles.

Putin’s statement comes at a time of hightened tensions between Russia and the West, fueling concerns that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Estonia accusing Russian fighter jets of intruding its airspace.