Countdown to Nuclear Decision: New START Treaty Extension in Limbo

Russia is awaiting a response from the United States on President Vladimir Putin's proposal to informally extend the New START nuclear arms treaty for an additional year, as reported by the Kremlin on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized the potential risks if the treaty expires on February 5, as it could create a significant gap in the legal frameworks regulating nuclear arms.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits strategic weapons aimed at each other's critical political and military centers. It caps deployed strategic warheads at 1,550 for each side, and restricts the use of deployed missiles and bombers.