Overview
- The treaty’s expiry removes caps of 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 delivery systems, ending the last binding U.S.–Russia arms limits.
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry said both sides are no longer bound by New START after Washington gave no formal answer to a one‑year mutual continuance.
- President Trump called for negotiating a “modernized” agreement that ideally includes China rather than accepting Moscow’s offer to carry over the limits.
- Inspections and routine data exchanges had already been suspended since the pandemic and Russia’s 2023 halt, reducing transparency and verification.
- The UN chief, arms‑control groups and Pope León XIV urged immediate talks as China voiced regret yet signaled it will not join now, while the U.S. insists any successor must include Beijing.