https://www.reuters.com/world/us-russia-close-deal-extend-new-start-nuclear-arms...




By Reuters
February 5, 2026


WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The United States and Russia are closing in on a deal to observe the New START nuclear arms control treaty beyond its expiration on Thursday, Axios reported, citing three sources familiar with the talks.
The , which set limits on each side's missiles, launchers and strategic warheads, is the last in a series of nuclear agreements dating back more than half a century to the Cold War.


Negotiations had been taking place over the past 24 hours in Abu Dhabi but an agreement had not been reached, Axios said, citing an additional source.

The White House had no immediate comment on the report, which followed a series of other developments in relations between the world's two biggest nuclear powers.

The U.S. military's European Command said on Thursday the U.S. and Russia had agreed in Abu Dhabi to resume a high-level military-to-military dialogue.

Also, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said peace talks with Russia, backed by the U.S., would continue in the near future after negotiators ended a second round of discussions in Abu Dhabi.

The Axios report on New START said it was unclear whether the agreement to observe the treaty's terms for an additional period of time, possibly six months, would be enshrined in any formal way.
KREMLIN SEEKS 'CONSTRUCTIVE REPLIES'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday Russia was still ready to engage in dialogue with the U.S. if Washington responded constructively to a proposal by Moscow to keep abiding by the limits of the expiring New START nuclear treaty.
"Listen, if there are any constructive replies, of course we will conduct a dialogue," Peskov told reporters.
The New START treaty signed in 2010 allowed one single extension, which was agreed by former President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin for five years. Any new extension would require an executive decision to voluntarily extend the limits of the treaty.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, wants China brought into a nuclear reduction deal.
Beijing has so far declined negotiations with Moscow and Washington as it has a fraction of their warhead numbers - an estimated 600, compared to around 4,000 each for Russia and the U.S.

Once they were invented it seems there is no way
we will ever get rid of them.   


https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38125124/terrifying-arms-race-us-russia-nuclear-tr...




Georgie English , Senior Foreign News Reporter
Published: 21:02, 4 Feb 2026


Vladimir Putin, in theory, will soon be able to stockpile as many nuclear warheads as he so wishes with no US-enforced treaty stopping the tyrant.


They have an estimated 10,636 between them with Putin having the most in total despite a vast amount being retired.

China have the fifth most nukes deployed but Xi Jinping is quickly amassing huge numbers of weapons which are being stored at his disposal meaning Beijing actually has the third most overall.

Without a treaty with China, Xi would be able to create as many warheads as he can until Beijing can compete with their superpower rivals.

Despite the looming threat of China, the world is urging the US and Russia to make a deal with each other to extend the START treaty.

Pope Leo XIV is among the names urging each side to do “everything possible” to avert a new arms race.

He said: “I urge you not to abandon this instrument without seeking to ensure that it is followed up in a concrete and effective manner.”

Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapon also heeded a stern warning.

She said: “Without New START, there is a real danger the new arms race will accelerate between the US and Russia.

“More warheads, more delivery systems, more exercises – and other nuclear-armed states will feel pressure to keep up.”

There hasn’t been a world without a US-Russia nuke agreement since 1972 when Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev inked a deal.