Russia prepares to Continue Adhering to the New START Treaty for One Year after February 2026 -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during Security Council meeting on September 22, noted the importance of ensuring and strengthening Russia’s position in Europe, protecting Russia’s territorial borders and air space against what he termed “external strategic risks” perpetrated by Western countries.

As a result of the rather destructive steps previously taken by Western countries, the foundations of constructive relations and practical cooperation between nuclear-armed states have been significantly undermined, Putin noted, while simultaneously appreciating the rapidly deteriorating nature of fundamental diplomacy in finding solution to multitude of security questions.

Putin made a concrete reference to the fact that “the situation in the area of ​​strategic stability: unfortunately, it continues to deteriorate, caused by the combined impact of a number of factors, some of them negative, exacerbating existing strategic risks and creating new ones.”

The foundations for dialogue in relevant bilateral and multilateral formats have been shaken. Step by step, the system of Soviet-American and Russian-American agreements on nuclear missile and strategic defensive arms control was almost completely dismantled—a system that had worked both to stabilize the situation between the states possessing the two largest nuclear arsenals and to strengthen global security overall, according to the Russian leader.

“Let me emphasize, and no one should doubt this: Russia is capable of responding to any existing or emerging threats, not just with words, but through military-technical measures,” Putin told members of the Security Council, and then added categorically: Russia has always believed in the preference and priority of political and diplomatic methods for maintaining international peace based on the principles of equality, indivisible security, and mutual consideration of interests.

The last significant political and diplomatic achievement in the area of ​​strategic stability was the conclusion of the Russian-American Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 2010. However, due to the Biden administration’s extremely hostile policies, which violated the fundamental principles on which the treaty was founded, its full implementation was suspended in 2023.

The New START Treaty expires on February 5, 2026, marking the imminent demise of the last international agreement directly limiting nuclear missile capabilities. Therefore, Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central quantitative limitations of the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026.