The US president has said he wants to negotiate a deal to replace the recently expired Strategic Nuclear Deployment Treaty.
Published February 6, 2026
US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to voluntarily extend the recently expired restrictions on the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons.
President Trump said Thursday that he wants negotiators from both countries to sit down and work out a new deal, calling the old deal “poorly negotiated.”
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“Instead of extending the ‘New Start’ (a badly negotiated agreement by the US that is flagrantly in violation of everything else), let the nuclear experts work on a new, improved and modernized treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump said on his Truth Social social media network.
President Trump has previously said he wants China to be involved in the new treaty, but officials in Beijing have shown little interest in doing so.
The expiration of the New START agreement means that restrictions on the US and Russia’s vast nuclear arsenals will be eased, raising concerns about a potential arms race as fears over nuclear weapons reignite.
President Putin said last year that he would abide by the treaty for another year if the United States committed to similar measures.
The United States has previously complained that the treaty limits its ability to deploy more missiles against Russia and China, but it has ignored Russia’s proposals.
The Russian government on Thursday expressed regret over the expiry of the treaty.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would continue its “responsible and thorough approach to stability regarding nuclear weapons,” adding: “Of course, it will primarily follow national interests.”
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Shihab Ratansi said the US and Russian delegations, who were in Abu Dhabi to discuss the Ukraine war, were also said to have discussed a six-month extension to the New START treaty.
“The treaty itself does not allow for further extensions, so it will be an informal handshake agreement,” Ratansi said.
“However, if an extension is achieved, it is aimed at starting formal talks to create an updated nuclear deal between the two countries,” he said.
Recent fighting between nuclear powers such as India and Pakistan has worried analysts who worry about the erosion of taboos and treaties aimed at curbing the use of nuclear weapons in conflicts.
President Putin previously suggested Russia might use nuclear weapons to counter Western efforts to support Ukraine, sparking alarm among observers.
The first START agreement was signed by the United States and the former Soviet Union in 1991.
The treaty, entitled New START, was signed in 2010 by former U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missiles and bombers that can be deployed and operational.
The agreement was extended for another five years in 2021 following an agreement between President Putin and then-US President Joe Biden.
