Trump says he wants to maintain nuclear limits with Russia

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump has stated that he would like to maintain the limits regarding the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia established by the 2010 New START treaty, which expires in February, Reuters reported.

"It is not a treaty you want to see expire. We are starting to work on that," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Scotland.

This was the first time since taking office that Trump has said he wants to maintain the strategic nuclear weapons deployment limits of the treaty when it expires on February 5.

"When you take away nuclear limits, that is a big problem," Trump said.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remaining nuclear arms reduction treaty between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

It limits Russia and the US to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic warheads on 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines, and bombers.
Former US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the treaty for five years in 2021, but as written, the treaty cannot be extended further. Trump opposed an extension during his first term, instead calling for a new treaty that includes China, which has rejected the proposal.

Trump has been a proponent of nuclear weapons restraint. In February, he said he would like to talk to Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about limiting their nuclear arsenals.

Relations between the US and Russia are at their lowest point in more than sixty years, partly fueled by Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine and the development of exotic new weapons systems.

With the expiration of New START, the US and Russia could begin deploying more strategic warheads, and each could have difficulty assessing the other's intentions, arms control advocates warn.