AFP, Moscow

Russia yesterday offered to keep abiding by nuclear warhead limits agreed with the United States once a key treaty expires, but only for one year and if Washington did the same.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010, limits the number of nuclear warheads each side can deploy and is the last major arms proliferation agreement between the two nuclear powers.

It is set to expire on February 5, 2026.

“Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central quantitative limitations of the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026,” Vladimir Putin said.

He said the measure was needed to prevent “a strategic arms race” with Washington. Russia froze its participation in New START in 2023 but has continued to follow the treaty rules. The deal restricts both sides to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each.