MOSCOW - Russian officials say they have not yet received a reply from the United States to President Vladimir Putin's suggestion to informally prolong for one year the operational provisions of the New START treaty, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the treaty's planned expiry on February 5 raises the prospect of a serious gap in the legal framework that governs nuclear arms. Peskov's remarks underscore Moscow's concern about the legal and regulatory vacuum that could follow the end of the accord if no interim arrangement is reached.
New START, the treaty referenced by the Kremlin, was signed in 2010 by then presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev. The agreement sets specific numerical limits on the strategic weapons each side may deploy to target key political and military centres of the other in the event of a nuclear conflict.
Under the treaty's terms, the number of deployed strategic warheads is capped at 1,550 for each party. In addition, the accord restricts deployed delivery systems - limiting to no more than 700 the combined total of deployed ground-launched and submarine-launched missiles and bomber aircraft designed to deliver those warheads.
The Kremlin statement and Peskov's comments focus on two central points: that Russia has formally proposed an informal one-year extension of the treaty's provisions, and that Moscow has not yet received a response from Washington. The Russian view, as conveyed by the spokesman, is that without an extension or other interim arrangement, the expiration on February 5 could leave a meaningful gap in the legal regime that has governed bilateral strategic arms limits.
Beyond these statements, the article provides no further detail on any communications from the United States, any timetable for a response, or additional steps either side might take. It also does not outline specific consequences beyond the general description of a possible "serious gap" in the legal framework regulating nuclear arms.