Russia’s Foreign Ministry Announced the Termination of the New START Treaty With the US

On the evening of February 4, Russia’s foreign ministry announced that the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms between the United States and Russia (New START) had expired.

The ministry said Washington had still not responded to Vladimir Putin’s proposal to keep the existing limits in place for another year after February 5, 2026. The statement stressed that, under the circumstances, Moscow considers the parties to be no longer bound by any obligations under New START.

The document also says that, once the treaty expires, Russia is prepared to take “decisive military-technical countermeasures” to “neutralize potential additional threats to national security.”

Russian officials say Moscow’s future course on strategic offensive arms will be shaped “in light of an analysis of US military policy and the broader strategic environment.”