World's Nuclear Club Will Grow If US Doesn't Act By Thursday, Medvedev Warns
We reported earlier that the last major nuclear arms control treaty between superpower rivals Russia and the United States is set to expire this week.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, has throughout the Ukraine war been the top official issuing the Kremlin's 'unofficial' nuclear warnings and threats. But now the outspoken Russian hawk is urgently offering an olive branch, arguing that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) must be quickly extended.
The Kremlin has made clear Russia is willing to extend it for another year, to allow more robust negotiations and for a longer deal to be finalized. Unless it is renewed, the landmark treaty will expire on Thursday, February 5.
But with just days away, the Trump White House has yet to issue anything official. Of course, President Trump is also known for making key decisions at the last moment, building suspense and leverage, based on also on his notorious unpredictable decision-making style.
Medvedev on Monday made clear that Russia's offer to quickly extend "remains on the table, and the treaty has not even expired yet, and if the American side wants to extend it, then this can be done."
He also confirmed that Moscow has received no response on this offer from Washington:
Medvedev told the newspaper Kommersant that Moscow might have to wait until the expiry of the treaty on February 5 for a U.S. response to the Russian initiative.
When contacted for comment, a White House official told Newsweek Monday: "The president will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline."
Medvedev explained Russia's point of view, as summarized in Newsweek:
Medvedev said the New START treaty had played a positive role in curbing the nuclear arms race, and that both Russia and the U.S. had stuck to its main restrictions.
However, the most important thing was for ties between the U.S. and Russia to be restored, with relations at their lowest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Medvedev said. He said Trump's "Golden Dome" and statements about resuming nuclear testing complicated any potential strategic dialogue between Russia and the United States.
He further warned that letting the treaty expire would mark the first time since 1972 that there are no legal limitations on strategic weapons between the two rivals, which are both well-armed with atomic warheads.
Medvedev is predicting that more countries will join the nuclear club if New START's safeguards aren't in place by the world's two foremost nuclear powers.
Former President Obama chimes in...
If Congress doesn’t act, the last nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia will expire. It would pointlessly wipe out decades of diplomacy, and could spark another arms race that makes the world less safe. This piece is worth the read. https://t.co/NPtKyjYRml
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 2, 2026
According to Monica Duffy Toft, professor of international politics and director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School, "By providing transparency into the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, New START has lowered the risk that either side will misinterpret normal military activity as preparation for a nuclear strike."
It was signed in 2010 by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, and limits the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 per side, and caps deployed delivery systems - including of missiles, bombers, and submarines - at 700. There's also a mutual inspection regimen, allowing each side to monitor the other's sites.