Russia regrets the end of the Nuclear Weapons Limitation Treaty, continues to use a responsible approach

Nuclear illustration. (Dan Meyers/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Russia regrets the end of the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, but will maintain a responsible approach.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia regretted the end of New START, which officially expired on February 5.

"We view the termination of this agreement negatively and express our regret in this regard," Peskov said, launching TASS (5/2).

The end of the New START Treaty could pave the way for what many fear as an unfettered nuclear arms race.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last year expressed his readiness to stick to the treaty's limits for another year if Washington followed suit, but U.S. President Donald Trump has not committed to an extension, according to The Associated Press.

He has indicated a desire for China to be part of the agreement, an impetus that Beijing has rejected.

President Trump himself has indicated, he wants to maintain nuclear weapons limits but wants to involve China in a potential new agreement.

"I actually feel very strongly that if we're going to do it, I think China should be a member of the extension," he told The New York Times last month.

"China has to be part of the deal," President Trump said.

Beijing rejects any restrictions on its smaller but growing nuclear arsenal, while urging the US to resume nuclear talks with Russia.

"China's nuclear strength is absolutely not comparable to the nuclear strength of the US and Russia, and therefore China will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday.

He said the Bamboo Curtain State regretted the end of the agreement, calling on the US to immediately resume nuclear dialogue with Russia and to respond positively to Moscow's suggestion that both parties continue to comply with the core limits of the agreement for the time being.

Regarding the issue of Chinese participation, Moscow believes this is Beijing's own business and respects any decisions made by the Chinese side. At the same time, Russia emphasizes that, if the New START Treaty is expanded, the agreement must include the US NATO nuclear allies, namely Britain and France, whose nuclear capabilities are not covered by any strategic stability agreement.

President Putin discussed the end of the pact with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said, noting that Washington had not responded to the proposal for its extension.

"In any case, the Russian Federation will maintain a responsible and comprehensive approach to stability in terms of nuclear weapons. And, of course, it will be guided primarily by its national interests," Peskov said.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, limits each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers, deployed and ready for use.

The agreement was originally due to expire in 2021 but has been extended for another five years.

The pact envisages comprehensive on-site inspections to verify compliance, although those inspections were halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have never resumed.

In February 2023, President Putin suspended Moscow's participation, saying Russia could not allow US inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies openly declared Moscow's defeat in Ukraine their goal.

At the same time, the Kremlin stressed that it was not withdrawing entirely from the pact, and pledged to respect the limits on nuclear weapons it set.

In September's offer to abide by the New START limits for one year to give both sides time to negotiate a replacement agreement, President Putin said the pact's demise would destabilize and could trigger nuclear proliferation.