Putin Calls on US to Respect New START as Nuclear Pact Nears 2026 Expiry

International

oi-Gaurav Sharma

Published: Monday, September 22, 2025, 18:59 [IST]

Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
on
Monday
vowed
that
Moscow
will
continue
to
honor
nuclear
arms
limits
for
an
additional
year
after
the
landmark
New
START
treaty
with
the
United
States
expires
in
February
2026.
Addressing
Russia’s
Security
Council,
Putin
warned
that
abandoning
the
pact
could
destabilize
global
security
and
called
on
Washington
to
similarly
respect
the
treaty’s
restrictions.

The
Last
Line
of
Nuclear
Control

The
New
START
treaty,
signed
in
2010
and
enforced
from
2011,
stands
as
the
final
arms
control
agreement
binding
the
world’s
two
largest
nuclear
powers.
It
caps
deployed
strategic
nuclear
warheads
at
1,550
and
limits
deployed
intercontinental
ballistic
missiles,
submarine-launched
missiles,
and
heavy
bombers
to
700,
with
a
combined
ceiling
of
800
on
deployed
and
non-deployed
launchers.
Verification
measures-including
inspections,
data
exchanges,
and
notifications-have
ensured
transparency
and
maintained
decades
of
strategic
stability.

A
Fragile
Pact
in
Peril

Despite
these
safeguards,
cracks
have
appeared.
In
February
2023,
Russia
suspended
inspections
and
reporting,
though
it
promised
to
abide
by
the
numerical
limits.
Analysts
warn
that
if
the
treaty
lapses
without
a
successor,
the
United
States
and
Russia
would
face
the
first
era
in
decades
without
binding
constraints
on
their
nuclear
arsenals-a
scenario
fraught
with
risk,
mistrust,
and
the
specter
of
escalation.

As
2026
approaches,
the
fate
of
the
New
START
treaty
has
become
a
focal
point
of
global
attention.
Putin’s
pledge
underscores
the
urgency
for
continued
dialogue
and
the
critical
need
to
preserve
the
fragile
framework
that
has
so
far
prevented
a
nuclear
arms
race
between
the
world’s
two
most
powerful
nuclear
nations.