Russia says it is prepared for a new reality in which there are no U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control limits once the New START treaty expires this week, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Unless Moscow and Washington reach a last-minute understanding, the two countries will be left without any constraints on their long-range strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years when the treaty expires on Thursday.
“This is a new moment, a new reality - we are ready for it,” Ryabkov, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies during a visit to Beijing for what he described as “strategic stability consultations”.
New START, signed in 2010, caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated last month that he would allow the treaty to expire, though he has not formally responded to a Russian proposal to continue observing the missile and warhead limits for one more year.
“The lack of an answer is also an answer,” Ryabkov said.
Arms control supporters in both Russia and the United States warn that the expiry would remove limits on warheads, weaken verification and undermine trust, increasing the risk of a renewed nuclear arms race.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who signed the treaty with then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, urged the U.S. Congress to intervene, warning that allowing the pact to lapse would “wipe out decades of diplomacy” and make the world less safe.
Medvedev said the world should be alarmed if the treaty expires without any understanding of what comes next, suggesting it would accelerate movement of the so-called “Doomsday Clock”.
Ryabkov also said Russia would take military measures if the United States deployed missile defence systems in Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO-member Denmark.
The web of nuclear arms control agreements built after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis has gradually unravelled in recent years, amid worsening relations between Moscow and the West over Ukraine and growing U.S. concern about China’s nuclear arsenal.
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U.S. military forces have seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon said on Monday.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance has arrived in Armenia, marking the first time a sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited the country, as Washington seeks to deepen engagement in the South Caucasus and advance a U.S.-brokered peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to step down, saying that “the distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”
Pressure is mounting on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid resignations and a row over Peter Mandelson, a powerful figure in the ruling Labour Party. The episode has raised doubts about Starmer’s authority and how firmly his own party continues to back him.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised American freestyle skier Hunter Hess after the athlete said he felt conflicted about representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in Italy, sparking a public clash that highlights growing political tensions surrounding the Games.
U.S. skiing great Lindsey Vonn underwent surgery in an Italian hospital on Sunday after her attempt to win Olympic downhill gold ended in a violent crash just seconds into the race at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
Several avalanches struck northern Italy on Saturday, killing at least three people, as rescue officials warned the death toll could rise with unstable conditions persisting across the Alps.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Saturday after completing a round of talks with Iran.
Police in riot gear pushed toward a group of protesters who launched fireworks, flares and smoke bombs during a demonstration in Milan on Saturday, as the city hosted events on the first full day of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
U.S. military forces have seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon said on Monday.
Pressure is mounting on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid resignations and a row over Peter Mandelson, a powerful figure in the ruling Labour Party. The episode has raised doubts about Starmer’s authority and how firmly his own party continues to back him.
Chinese authorities have quietly signalled a shift in strategy, instructing some state-owned banks to rein in their purchases of U.S. government bonds.
Convicted Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions before Congress, while her lawyer said she could clear President Donald Trump of wrongdoing if granted clemency.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has accused Afghanistan’s authorities of fostering conditions “similar to or worse than pre-9/11”, as tensions between the two neighbours intensify amid a surge in militant attacks inside Pakistan.
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