Russia criticises US as final nuclear warhead treaty set to expire

Experts have warned that the expiry of the US-Russia New START treaty could spark a fresh nuclear arms race.Published On 4 Feb 2026Russia says it is “no longer bound” by limits on the number of nuclear warheads it can deploy, as the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States is set to expire.The New START treaty, which was signed in 2010, will expire on Thursday. Russia said that the US had not responded to President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to keep observing the missile and warhead limits in the treaty for another 12 months.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Putin says Russia to take ‘reciprocal measures’ if US resumes nuclear testslist 2 of 3Russia ‘will respond in kind’ to nuclear tests by any country: Lavrovlist 3 of 3Russia’s new nuclear-powered missileend of list“We assume that the parties to the New START treaty are no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations within the context of the treaty,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.“Essentially, our ideas are being deliberately ignored. This [US] approach appears mistaken and regrettable,” it said.New START, which stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, limits the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons, those designed to hit an adversary’s key political, military and industrial centres.Deployed weapons or warheads are those in active service and available for rapid use as opposed to those that are in storage or awaiting dismantlement.The expiry of the treaty means that Moscow and Washington will both be free to increase missile numbers and deploy hundreds more strategic warheads, although this poses logistical challenges and will take time.Despite the expiry of the treaty, US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in a new agreement to restrict nuclear weapons.During an interview with The New York Times in January, Trump said of the New START treaty: “If it expires, it expires. … We’ll just do a better agreement.”