An arms control treaty between the United States and Russia limiting deployed strategic nuclear warheads expired Thursday, marking the first time since 1972 that either country is no longer bound by formal caps on its nuclear forces.
The New START Treaty, negotiated under former President Barack Obama and taking effect on February 5, 2011, expired on February 4 with no announced replacement. The expiration comes as President Donald Trump has directed the Departments of War and Energy to prepare for potential changes to nuclear weapons policy.
“If it expires, it expires,” Trump told The New York Times in an interview last month. “We’ll do a better agreement.”
“You probably want to get a couple of other players involved also,” Trump added.
New START capped Russia and the United States at 700 deployed strategic delivery systems, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), along with a limit of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers.
“New START limits all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons, including every Russian nuclear warhead that is loaded onto an intercontinental-range ballistic missile that can reach the United States in approximately 30 minutes,” the State Department said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that “Russian interests” would drive the next stage of relations with the United States.
“What happens next depends on how events unfold,” he said. “In any case, the Russian Federation will maintain its responsible and attentive approach to the issue of strategic stability in the field of nuclear weapons and, of course, as always, will be guided first and foremost by its national interests.”
Trump said in October that the United States would begin testing its nuclear weapons, arguing the move was necessary because Russia and China were conducting secret nuclear tests. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding its nuclear weapons stash and is projected to have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report,” Trump said. “We’re going to test, because they test and others test.”
Trump administration officials later clarified that the planned tests would be “systems tests” and would not involve nuclear detonations. The United States has not detonated a nuclear weapon since 1992.
Russia suspended participation in the New START Treaty in 2023 amid its war with Ukraine, but claimed it would continue to comply with the treaty’s limits. Since coming into office, Trump has pushed strongly for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. On Thursday, special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the United States, Russia, and Ukraine had agreed to a 314-person prisoner swap.
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine,” Witkoff said. “Discussions will continue, with additional progress anticipated in the coming weeks.”
