Former US president warns ending New START would undo nuclear diplomacy

The possible termination of the New START nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, the world’s two largest nuclear powers, would "pointlessly wipe out decades of diplomacy," former US President Barack Obama warned.

He emphasised that such a development could trigger a new arms race and make the world less safe, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010, by former US President Barack Obama and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, entering into force in 2011 as a continuation of decades-long efforts to limit strategic nuclear arsenals.

The treaty, set to expire on February 5, 2026, established binding caps on deployed strategic warheads and delivery systems, while introducing verification mechanisms such as on-site inspections and data exchanges to enhance transparency and predictability between the two nuclear powers.

Under New START, each side is limited to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 deployed delivery vehicles—including ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers—within an overall ceiling of 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers, using actual warhead counts rather than earlier attribution rules to more accurately reflect nuclear forces.

The agreement was extended for five years in 2021, but its verification regime has been significantly weakened in recent years, following the suspension of mutual inspections amid rising geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

By Jeyhun Aghazada