The announcement made by Donald Trump, with less than a year left until the Russian Treaty to reduce nuclear weapons
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Credit Line: Mandel Ngan / AFP / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that they would like to maintain the limits on US and Russia strategic nuclear weapons set up by the 2010 New Start agreement, which expires in February, Reuters reports.
“This is not an agreement that you want to expire. We start working on this,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to go to Scotland.
It was the first moment after returning to the White House in which it expresses its desire to maintain the limits provided by the Treaty on strategic nuclear weapons. New Start expires on February 5, 2026.
“When you raise nuclear restrictions, this is a big problem,” warned US president.
The new strategic weapon treatment treaty, or New Start, is the last agreement to reduce nuclear weapons among the main nuclear powers of the world. The understanding allows Russia and the United States to carry out at most 1,550 strategic foci on 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers.
Treaty signed in 2010 was extended in 2021
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his then counterpart, Joe Biden, extended the treaty by five years, but, as written, cannot be extended once again. Trump opposed an extension in his first term, requesting a new treaty instead, including China – Beijing has rejected the proposal.
Donald Trump was a promoter of the idea of limiting nuclear arsenal. In February, the US leader said he would like to talk to his counterparts in Russia and China.
Relations between the US and Russia have reached one of the lowest levels in the last 60 years, a crisis fueled by Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine and the development of new weapons systems.
The supporters of the weapon control have warned that with the expiration of the treaty there is a risk that the US and Russia will start to carry out more strategic rods and both could have difficulty evaluating the other party's intentions.
