Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Moscow will continue to honor its nuclear arms agreement with the United States for an additional year, even as it approaches expiration in February 2026.
During a televised Security Council meeting, Putin stressed that ending the 2010 New START treaty would carry serious risks for global security. “Russia is ready to observe the central limits of the New START Treaty for one year beyond February 5, 2026,” he said.
He added that Moscow expects Washington to follow suit and stick to the same restrictions. The treaty, originally signed by Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, caps each side at 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed delivery systems, including missiles and bombers.
With the agreement nearing its end and no talks yet on a replacement, arms control experts have raised concerns. Though New START provides for rigorous on-site inspections to ensure compliance, those checks have been suspended since 2020.
In February 2023, Putin halted Russia’s participation, citing U.S. inspections as unacceptable while Washington and NATO publicly pursue Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine. Still, Russia has maintained that it is not abandoning the accord entirely and will continue respecting the treaty’s nuclear limits.
