Trump rejects Putin's offer to extend New START treaty

U.S. and Russia nearing new deal to extend New START nuclear limits, Axios reports

WASHINGTON,— U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected a Russian proposal to keep existing nuclear limits in place for another year, saying instead that the United States should pursue a completely new and modernized arms control agreement.

Trump said the 2010 New START treaty, which officially expired on February 5, 2026, should not simply be extended but replaced with what he called a stronger and more up-to-date deal that reflects today’s security realities.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said, “Rather than extend New START, we should have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved, and modernized treaty that can last long into the future.”

His remarks followed a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin that both countries voluntarily continue observing the treaty’s limits for one additional year while broader negotiations continued. Putin’s offer would have kept caps on deployed strategic nuclear warheads and the missiles, submarines, and long-range aircraft used to deliver them.

In a separate development, Axios reported on Thursday that Washington and Moscow were moving closer to a possible understanding that would allow both sides to keep following key provisions of New START even after its formal expiration.

Citing three people familiar with the discussions, the outlet said the two governments had been talking seriously about a temporary arrangement that would prevent an immediate collapse of arms restraints.

New START set ceilings on each country’s deployed strategic warheads as well as the number of missiles and launch systems capable of carrying them.

Axios said another source indicated that intensive talks had taken place over the past 24 hours in Abu Dhabi, but that no final agreement had yet been reached.

New START was the last remaining arms control treaty between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. It entered into force in 2011 and was extended once in 2021 for five years by Putin and then-U.S. President Joe Biden. The treaty allowed only one extension.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Moscow remains ready for talks if Washington responds constructively. Speaking to reporters, he said Russia had not shut the door to diplomacy.

“If there are any constructive replies, of course we will conduct a dialogue,” Peskov said.

New START was the final agreement in a series of U.S.-Russian nuclear treaties dating back more than 50 years to the Cold War. Those agreements set numerical limits on weapons and included inspection systems that experts say helped build trust and reduce the risk of miscalculation.

Security analysts warn that without a replacement treaty, the strategic environment could become more dangerous. They say both countries may assume worst-case intentions and feel pressure to expand their arsenals, especially as China rapidly increases its nuclear capabilities.

On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the collapse of major arms control agreements “could not come at a worse time,” adding that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is now the highest in decades.

He urged Washington and Moscow to resume negotiations without delay and agree on a new framework that restores verifiable limits.

At a briefing in New York, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the world was entering a “very dangerous period” without a formal structure governing nuclear weapons. He said the U.N. hopes any talks will be positive and productive.

Trump has said any future nuclear deal should include China alongside the United States and Russia. Beijing has declined to participate in trilateral negotiations.

China is estimated to have about 600 nuclear warheads, compared with roughly 4,000 each for Russia and the United States. On Thursday, Beijing said the treaty’s expiration was regrettable and urged Washington to resume dialogue with Moscow on “strategic stability.”

There was some uncertainty about the exact hour the treaty expired, but Peskov said it would end by the close of business Thursday.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who signed the treaty with Barack Obama in 2010, said New START and earlier agreements were now “all in the past.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it now assumes the treaty no longer applies and that both sides are free to decide their next steps. It warned Moscow could take “decisive military-technical countermeasures” if new threats emerge, but said diplomacy remains possible.

Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, said the treaty’s expiration resulted from Russian actions aimed at weakening the global security system. Kyiv accused Moscow of using nuclear threats to pressure countries that support Ukraine.

Strategic nuclear weapons are long-range systems designed to strike major cities, military bases, and industrial centers, unlike tactical nuclear weapons, which are smaller and meant for limited battlefield use.

Experts say that without any agreement, both the United States and Russia could deploy hundreds more warheads within a few years beyond the former New START limit of 1,550 deployed warheads.

According to Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, arms control provides benefits beyond weapon counts.

“Transparency and predictability are among the more intangible benefits of arms control and underpin deterrence and strategic stability,” he said.

(With files from Reuters)