⚡️ Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Concerning the Expiration of the Russia-US New START Treaty (February 4, 2026)

On February 5, 2026, the life cycle of the Russian-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (#NewSTART) comes to an end; it was signed by the Parties on April 8, 2010, entered into force on February 5, 2011, and was extended for a five-year period in February 2021 on the basis of a relevant one-time option provided for in this agreement.

In February 2023, the Russian Federation suspended the New START Treaty against the backdrop of the unsatisfactory state of affairs with the implementation of certain aspects of the Treaty, as well as due to the absolutely unacceptable steps by the United States running counter to the fundamental principles and understandings of the agreement enshrined in its preamble.

It was a compelled measure and an inevitable response of the Russian Side to the extremely hostile policy of the Biden administration which resulted in the fundamental change in the security situation, as well as to a number of illegitimate steps taken by Washington in the context of specific provisions of the New START Treaty, which together constituted a material breach incompatible with the Treaty being further implemented in a full-fledged manner.

Among the key negative factors, it is worth to highlight the destabilizing actions of the United States in the field of missile defense, contrary to the inseparable interrelationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive arms enshrined in the New START Treaty. <...>

Despite some obvious problematic moments, basically the New START Treaty used to fulfill its key functions. The conclusion of the Treaty and the years of its initially successful implementation helped to discourage the strategic arms race, allowing for significant reductions in the parties' arsenals. At the same time, due to the restrictions applied in this area a sufficient level of predictability was ensured on a long-term basis. <...>

In parallel to suspending this agreement, the Russian Federation announced the intention to voluntarily maintain its commitment to the central quantitative limits on weapons regulated by the New START until the end of the Treaty's life cycle in February 2026. At that time, the United States followed suit, announcing its readiness to act in a similar manner.

Striving to extend the positive effect of such reciprocal measures in terms of maintaining balance and certainty in the field of strategic offensive arms during the current turbulent period, our country took an additional constructive step. On September 22, 2025, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin publicly proposed that the Parties to the New START Treaty commit to voluntary self-limitations to keep the quantitative ceilings on the relevant weapons specified in the Treaty for at least one year after the termination of the agreement.

However, no formal official response from the United States with regard to the Russian initiative has been received through bilateral channels. <...> It means that our ideas have been deliberately left unanswered. <...>

In the current circumstances, we assume that the Parties to the New START are no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations in the context of the Treaty, including its core provisions, and are in principle free to choose their next steps. <...>

🇷🇺 The Russian Federation remains ready to take decisive military-technical measures to counter potential additional threats to the national security. At the same time, our country remains open to seeking politico-diplomatic ways to comprehensively stabilize the strategic situation on the basis of equal and mutually beneficial dialogue solutions, if the appropriate conditions for such cooperation are shaped.

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🎙️Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with TV BRICS international media network, Moscow (February 9, 2026)

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Key takeaways:

🔹The global arena is undergoing a transformation that began some time ago with the objective transition toward a multipolar world order.

☝️For many years, the United States functioned as the engine of the global economy and the regulator of international finance, using the role of the dollar to reinforce its dominant position. It is now, objectively, losing economic significance and influence within the global system. Meanwhile, countries such as the People’s Republic of China, India, and Brazil are rising. Significant developments are also taking place across Africa, where nations are increasingly seeking to develop domestic industry rather than simply export natural resources – an effort that the Soviet Union once supported.

🔹Blatantly unfair methods are being used against us: the operations of Russian oil companies such as Lukoil and Rosneft are being banned, and there are attempts to dictate and restrict Russia’s trade, investment cooperation, and military-technical ties with our major strategic partners, including India as well as other #BRICS states.

🔹When the new centres of growth began to demonstrate far more substantial economic results and significantly higher growth rates – as is evident across the #BRICS countries – the West started seeking ways to block this transition.

❗️This cannot succeed, because it is an objective, irreversible process. For several years now, the BRICS countries’ growth rates and GDP volumes have, in terms of purchasing power parity, substantially exceeded the combined GDP of the G7.

🔹Nazi foundations must be eliminated. We will ensure, and I have no doubt about it, our own security interests, by preventing the deployment on Ukrainian territory of any weapons threatening us, and, second, by guaranteeing reliable and full protection for the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking people, who have been living in #Crimea, #Donbass and #Novorossiya for centuries.