Russia signals new era without nuclear arms limits as New START treaty ends soon

Russia has expressed its readiness to adapt to emerging global reality with no nuclear limits as both the US and Russia are inching towards the expiration of the New START treaty.

The nuclear treaty signed in 2010 by US President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev, is going to expire on February 5, 2026.

More worrisome is the fact that the treaty may expire without considerable negotiations on limiting the nuclear arsenal and arms race.

As reported by Reuters, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, Russia is open to the nuclear-free constraints era ending, thereby giving rise to a new world order where both nuclear powers would be free from limitations for the very first time in decades.

"The lack of an answer is also an answer," Ryabkov said.

He also supported China’s position on arms control. In the case of Trump’s growing defence system in Greenland, Russia would have to take military-based measures for the sake of protection.

If the treaty expires without any future agreement, both the US and Russia will be legally exempted from binding limitations on strategic nuclear forces for the very first time since the 1970s.

In 2021, the one-time formal extension in the treaty was approved at the eleventh hour by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

In 2025, Putin proposed the suggestion to informally extend the treaty for another year, buying both countries some time to work on future framework. But, Trump did not respond to this proposal.

Earlier this month, Trump said, “If the treaty expires, it expires,” and it should be replaced with a better one.

The nuclear treaty imposes caps on nuclear weapons. In the case of absence, the already conflict-ridden world becomes nuclear unrestrained, turning into a more dangerous place.