MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday that it is still awaiting a response from Washington on President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to jointly observe the limits of the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control pact between the two countries, which expires in less than two months.
New START, which expires on 5 February, restricts the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and the delivery systems that the United States and Russia can field.
In September, Moscow offered to voluntarily maintain the treaty’s limits for one year. US President Donald Trump said in October that the proposal sounded “like a good idea”.
“We have less than 100 days left before the expiry of New START,” said Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, during a visit to Hanoi. “We are waiting for a response.”
He said Moscow’s proposal offered a chance to halt what he described as the “destructive movement” in nuclear arms control.
Shoigu said the treaty’s collapse would further weaken a security system that was “not just gradually degrading but collapsing”.
He noted the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as an example of eroding safeguards.
“The security of one party should not be ensured at the expense of the security of another,” he said.
Arms control architecture under strain
Russia and the United States together hold more than 10,000 nuclear warheads, or around 87% of the world’s arsenal.
China, the third-largest nuclear power, has roughly 600 warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Arms control agreements between Washington and Moscow were created after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis to reduce misunderstanding and slow the nuclear arms race.
Most of those agreements have since collapsed, with both sides accusing the other of violating obligations.
The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy says it wants to “re-establish strategic stability with Russia”, signalling an interest in reopening discussions on strategic nuclear arms control.
Moscow says offer still stands
Shoigu reiterated that Russia’s proposal “remains on the table”. He said the plan reflects Putin’s broader push for a system of “equal and indivisible security”.
He warned that the breakdown of New START would accelerate the deterioration of the global security framework.
“I think these proposals could make it possible to stop the current destructive process,” he said.
