On this photograph launched by The State Duma, The Federal Meeting of The Russian Federation Press Service, Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov gestures as he delivers his speech on the State Duma, the Decrease Home of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, on February 11, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: AP
Moscow will observe the bounds of the final nuclear arms pact with the USA that expired final week so long as it sees that Washington is doing the identical, Russia’s high diplomat mentioned Wednesday (February 11, 2026).
The New START treaty expired on February 5, 2026, leaving no restrictions on the 2 largest atomic arsenals for the primary time in additional than a half-century and fuelling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race.
Russian President Vladimir Putin final 12 months declared his readiness to stay to the treaty’s limits for an additional 12 months if Washington adopted swimsuit, however U.S. President Donald Trump has argued that he needs China to be part of a brand new pact — one thing Beijing has rejected.
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Talking on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) to the parliament’s decrease home, Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned that despite the fact that the U.S. hasn’t responded to Putin’s provide, Russia will respect New START’s caps for so long as it sees that the U.S. observes them too.
“The moratorium declared by the president will stay so long as the U.S. doesn’t exceed these limits,” Mr. Lavrov informed lawmakers. “We’ll act in a accountable and balanced manner on the premise of research of the U.S. navy insurance policies.”
He added that “we have now cause to consider that the USA is in no hurry to desert these limits and that they are going to be noticed for the foreseeable future.”
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“We’ll carefully monitor how issues are literally unfolding,” Mr. Lavrov mentioned. “If our American colleagues’ intention to keep up some sort of cooperation on that is confirmed, we are going to work actively on a brand new settlement and think about the problems which have remained exterior strategic stability agreements.”
Mr. Lavrov’s assertion adopted a report by Axios claiming Russian and U.S. negotiators mentioned a potential casual deal to watch the pact’s limits for not less than six months throughout talks final week in Abu Dhabi. Requested to touch upon the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Friday (February 6, 2026) that any such extension might solely be formal, including that “it’s exhausting to think about any casual extension on this sphere.”
On the identical time, Mr. Peskov confirmed that Russian and U.S. negotiators mentioned future nuclear arms management in Abu Dhabi the place delegations from Moscow, Kyiv and Washington held two days of talks on a peace settlement in Ukraine.
Additionally Learn | Trump urges new nuclear treaty after Russia settlement ends
“There’s an understanding, and so they talked about it in Abu Dhabi, that each events will take accountable positions and each events notice the necessity to begin talks on the problem as quickly as potential,” Mr. Peskov mentioned.
New START, signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, was the final of an extended collection of agreements between Moscow and Washington to restrict their nuclear arsenals, beginning with SALT I in 1972.
New START restricted all sides to not more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on not more than 700 missiles and bombers deployed and prepared to be used. It was initially set to run out in 2021 however was prolonged for 5 years. The pact envisioned sweeping on-site inspections to confirm compliance, though they stopped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and by no means resumed.
EDITORIAL | New beginnings: On the tip of START as alternative
In February 2023, Mr. Putin suspended Moscow’s participation, saying Russia couldn’t permit U.S. inspections of its nuclear websites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies brazenly declared they wished Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine. However the Kremlin additionally emphasised it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether, pledging to respect its caps on nuclear weapons.
In September, Mr. Putin supplied to maintain the New START’s limits for an additional 12 months to purchase time for each side to barter a successor settlement.
At the same time as New START expired, the U.S. and Russia agreed on February 5 to re-establish high-level, military-to-military dialogue following a gathering between senior officers from each side in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. navy command in Europe mentioned. The hyperlink was suspended in 2021 as relations grew more and more strained earlier than Russia despatched troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Printed – February 11, 2026 06:45 pm IST