Two days of the latest round of nuclear talks in Vienna have ended on Tuesday, with indications that the US and Russia remain at odds on a number of issues. Officials did hold out hope that there was willingness to extend New START as presently written.
There are several issues the US would like to see addressed in a future limitation treaty, and US officials continue to demand China get involved. China did not send a delegation to Vienna, and has rejected joining in since the US and Russia have vastly larger arsenals.
There is no real time to negotiate a new START-type deal before New START expires, so extending it while they work on it is likely a way to avoid another arms race that neither nation can really afford.
More talks are planned, and everyone seems to want to figure out where they stand before accepting the extension. Time is running out on that extension, however, and both sides may want to sort that sooner rather than later.
Extending new START could buy some time. But ultimately the sides, mainly Beijing and Washington, need to find a way of keeping core interests colliding; without which it is impossible for them to avoid world war.
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As long as US geo-doctrine remains global hegemony, with Russia et. al. destined for vassalage, any deal seems a logical impossibility??