Russia agrees to abide by expired New START nuclear arms limits — as long as the US does the same

Russia has reportedly agreed to abide by the limits of a atomic arms pact it reached with the U.S. years agone aft the statement expired past week — arsenic agelong arsenic Washington does the same.

The New START Treaty's expiration, which occurred connected Feb. 5, leaves the nations with the 2 largest atomic arsenals with nary restrictions for the archetypal clip successful much than a half-century, The Associated Press reported. The expiration has fueled fears of a imaginable unconstrained atomic arms race.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would abide by the atomic arms woody for different twelvemonth aft its expiration day arsenic agelong arsenic the U.S. were to travel suit, the AP reported. However, President Donald Trump has said helium wanted China to beryllium portion of a caller pact, thing that Beijing has rejected, according to the AP.

"Rather than widen 'NEW START' (A severely negotiated woody by the United States that, speech from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should person our Nuclear Experts enactment connected a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that tin past agelong into the future," Trump wrote connected Truth Social upon the treaty's expiration.

WORLD ENTERS UNCHARTED ERA AS US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR TREATY EXPIRES, OPENING DOOR TO FASTEST ARMS RACE IN DECADES

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin conscionable successful Anchorage, Ala. ( REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

In effect to Fox News Digital's petition for remark connected the now-expired treaty, the White House pointed to the president's Truth Social post.

Russian overseas curate Sergey Lavrov spoke to lawmakers astir the treaty, saying that Moscow would "act successful a liable and balanced mode connected the ground of investigation of the U.S. subject policies," the AP reported.

Lavrov added that "we person crushed to judge that the United States is successful nary hurry to wantonness these limits and that they volition beryllium observed for the foreseeable future."

This photograph taken from a video distributed connected Dec. 9, 2020, by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, shows a rocket motorboat arsenic portion of a ground-based intercontinental ballistic rocket trial astatine the Plesetsk installation successful Russia.  (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

"We volition intimately show however things are really unfolding," Lavrov said. "If our American colleagues’ volition to support immoderate benignant of practice connected this is confirmed, we volition enactment actively connected a caller statement and see the issues that person remained extracurricular strategical stableness agreements."

TRUMP CALLS FOR NUCLEAR EXPERTS TO WORK ON 'NEW, IMPROVED, AND MODERNIZED TREATY'

The New START Treaty was signed successful 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, and was entered into unit connected Feb. 5, 2011. 

The pact gave the U.S. and Russia until Feb. 5, 2018, to conscionable the cardinal limits connected strategical violative arms. The pact caps each broadside astatine 700 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and nuclear-capable dense bombers; 1,550 deployed warheads; and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers and bombers. The parties were past obligated to support the limits arsenic agelong arsenic the pact remained successful force, which it did until past week.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shingle hands during a property league pursuing their gathering to negociate an extremity to the warfare successful Ukraine, astatine Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, successful Anchorage, Ala., Aug. 15, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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The expiration of the pact comes conscionable aft a gathering involving U.S. and Russian officials successful Abu Dhabi. Axios antecedently reported that the 2 nations were closing successful connected a woody to observe the pact for astatine slightest six months aft its expiration. The outlet added that during the six-month play determination would beryllium negotiations for a caller deal.

The State Department did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital's petition for comment.