On Monday, September 22, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow would uphold its nuclear arms limits for another year. This commitment comes as the final remaining nuclear arms control agreement with the United States is set to expire in February.
President Putin warned that terminating the 2010 New START treaty would profoundly destabilize global security. During a meeting with Russia’s Security Council members, he expressed an expectation for the U.S. to reciprocate Russia’s stance and also adhere to the treaty’s restrictions.
The New START agreement, originally signed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, caps each nation at no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The impending expiration of this treaty, coupled with a lack of progress on a new agreement, has caused considerable apprehension among arms control advocates.
The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance, but these checks have been suspended since 2020.
In February 2023, President Putin officially suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty. He justified this by stating that Russia could not permit U.S. inspections of its nuclear facilities while Washington and its NATO allies openly pursued Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. However, Moscow clarified that it was not entirely withdrawing from the pact but would continue to respect the established limits on nuclear weapons.