Kathrine Frich
Decades of arms control architecture could unravel.
With just days left before a cornerstone arms control agreement lapses, Moscow is signaling it is prepared for a new and more dangerous phase in global nuclear politics.
The warning comes amid silence from Washington and rising uncertainty over what follows next.
Treaty deadline
The New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, is due to expire on February 5 unless a last-minute deal is reached.
The pact was signed in 2010 by then US president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
According to Reuters, without the treaty there would be no binding limits on the long-range nuclear arsenals of the world’s two largest nuclear powers for the first time in decades.
This would mark the first such moment since 1972, when US president Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed landmark agreements during Nixon’s visit to Moscow.
Moscow’s message
Speaking on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow is prepared for this new reality.
Quoted by state news agency TASS in Beijing, Ryabkov referred to the lack of a US response to Russian proposals.
“The lack of an answer is also an answer,” he said.
Ryabkov added that Russia is ready for a world in which the two leading nuclear powers operate without limits, and said Moscow supports China’s position on arms control.
Pressure points
Ryabkov also commented on other geopolitical flashpoints.
He described US proposals to Iran as ultimatums and warned that any expansion of US missile defense systems in Greenland would force Russia to take compensatory military measures.
Such remarks highlight how arms control concerns are increasingly intertwined with wider strategic disputes.
US position
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that both sides temporarily stick to existing limits on missiles and nuclear warheads for another year to allow time for negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has not formally responded. Earlier this month, he said that “if it expires, it expires,” adding that the treaty should be replaced with a better one.
Some US politicians argue Washington should let New START lapse in order to counter China’s rapid nuclear buildup.
Trump, however, says he wants to pursue “denuclearization” with both Russia and China.
Beijing has rejected joining such talks, saying it is unreasonable given that its arsenal remains far smaller.
Sources: Reuters, TASS, Digi24.
