Overview
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia can announce continued adherence to New START caps at any point before the treaty expires on February 5, 2026.
- He offered a one-year continuation of the numerical limits on a strictly reciprocal basis, requiring only a public U.S. commitment not to increase forces.
- Washington has not issued a matching pledge, leaving a short window to preserve the constraints without new negotiations.
- Lavrov urged decoupling arms-control choices from the conflict in Ukraine and called for a year to cool off and assess nuclear risk.
- He said Russia would resume nuclear testing only if another nuclear power moves first, rejected U.S. allegations of suspicious activity at Russian sites, and pointed to global seismic monitoring as a check.