Arms control experts issued a statement on Thursday warning of risks to global security due to the expiration of New START, the last nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia, without a replacement.
“We express our profound concern that, following the expiration of the US-Russian Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) on 5 February 2026, there will be no bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between the two countries for the first time in decades,” the Deep Cuts Commission, a group of experts and former officials who focus on US-Russia arms control, said.
“This will reduce nuclear stability and predictability, threaten global security, and increase the risk of a new era of unconstrained nuclear competition,” the group said.
New START limited the number of nuclear warheads the US and Russia can each deploy to 1,550 and the number of deployed and non-deployed strategic launchers to 800. The Deep Cuts Commission said the US and Russia are now “free to increase the number of deployed strategic warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers beyond the limits established by the Treaty.”
The group noted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to continue abiding by the New START limits for another year while the US and Russia negotiate a replacement treaty. So far, there’s no sign the US has agreed, as President Trump said on Thursday that he didn’t want to extend New START.
The experts called for the US and Russia to agree to maintain the New START limits and to immediately enter into talks on a new treaty. “Both sides should agree to continue to respect the central limits of New START, which would create a more conducive environment for talks on strategic stability,” the group said. “The Russian Federation and the United States should restart bilateral talks on a new strategic stability and nuclear arms control framework at the earliest possible date.”
Polling shows that American voters overwhelmingly support the idea of Trump accepting Putin’s offer to maintain the New START limits and want the US and Russia to negotiate a new deal that either maintains those restrictions or results in a reduction of nuclear weapons.
