On February 5, 2026, the life cycle of the Russian-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) finally comes to an end; it was signed by the parties on April 8, 2010, entered into force on February 5, 2011, and was extended for a five-year period in February 2021 on the basis of a relevant one-time option provided for in this agreement. This is noted in a statement released by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

"On September 22, 2025, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin publicly proposed that the parties to the New START Treaty commit to voluntary self-limitations to keep the quantitative ceilings on the relevant weapons specified in the Treaty for at least one year after the termination of the agreement,” the statement adds

“However, no formal official response from the United States with regard to the Russian initiative has been received through bilateral channels. Public comments from the US side also give no reason to conclude that Washington is ready to follow the course of action in the field of strategic offensive arms proposed by the Russian Federation. In fact, it means that our ideas have been deliberately left unanswered. This approach seems erroneous and regrettable,” the statement notes.

“From a practical point of view, our country considers such developments as a fact that must be taken into account when determining further Russian policy in this area,” the Russian MFA statement reads.

“In the current circumstances, we assume that the parties to the New START are no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations in the context of the Treaty, including its core provisions, and are in principle free to choose their next steps. In doing so the Russian Federation intends to act responsibly and in a balanced manner, developing its policy in the field of strategic offensive arms on the basis of a thorough analysis of the US military policy and the overall situation in the strategic sphere,” the statement adds.

“The Russian Federation remains ready to take decisive military-technical measures to counter potential additional threats to the national security. At the same time, our country remains open to seeking politico-diplomatic ways to comprehensively stabilize the strategic situation on the basis of equal and mutually beneficial dialogue solutions, if the appropriate conditions for such cooperation are shaped,” the Russian MFA statement concludes.