Putin says Russia will stick to nuclear arms limits for 1 more year

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow will adhere to nuclear arms limits for one more year after the last remaining nuclear pact with the United States expires in February.

Putin said that the termination of the 2010 New START would have negative consequences for global stability. Speaking at a meeting with members of Russia’s Security Council, he said that Russia would expect the U.S. to follow Moscow’s example and also stick to the treaty’s limits.

The New START, signed by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. Its looming expiration and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal have worried arms control advocates.

The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance, but they have been dormant since 2020.

In February 2023, Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow has emphasized, however, that it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

The Associated Press