Overview
- Russia says it is prepared to keep observing New START’s core quantitative caps for one year beyond the treaty’s February 5, 2026 expiry.
- The Kremlin frames the move as voluntary and says a further decision will follow an assessment after the extra year.
- On-site verification remains frozen because Moscow suspended participation in 2023, leaving inspection provisions inactive.
- New START, signed in 2010, limits each side to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and caps launchers and heavy bombers at 800.
- The proposal comes as Russia lifts its moratorium on certain intermediate-range systems and advances the hypersonic Orechnik program, with media noting a possible opening for talks and no U.S. response reported.