Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov warned during an interview with Rossiya-24 TV on Nov. 13, that failure to maintain limitations on nuclear arsenals with an extension of the New START treaty means that things could “spiral out of control.”
“Experience has shown that both the United States and Russia—the Soviet Union in the past—are capable of taking part in a nuclear arms race, but neither of the parties can benefit from that,” he said, reported TASS. “This is why at some point, Moscow and Washington embarked on the path of nuclear arsenal reduction. New START is the last agreement in this field, which continues to curtail the arms race to some extent, with the parties abiding by certain limitations. If these limitations are lifted and there is not even a verbal agreement that the quantitative restrictions under New START will be respected, there’s a risk that the situation will spiral out of control.”
Ulyanov stressed that the U.S. still hasn’t responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Sept. 22 offer to hold to the limits of the New START treaty for a year after it expires on Feb. 5, 2026. “There are currently no signs that the Americans are amenable to this. I can’t speak to what they’re thinking,” he said. “In any case ... this is another situation where the Russian Federation is demonstrating a constructive approach: at least we have offered options for a way out of a difficult situation.... The Americans, in contrast, are mum on that. In fact, time is starting to run out because it’s not long before New START expires.”
As for whether the U.S. will resume nuclear testing as stated by U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 30, “There are two options,” Ulyanov said. “The first one is that they [the Americans] will soft-pedal this thing; I wouldn’t rule out such a possibility. However, it’s also possible that they will proceed to conduct a nuclear test, a full-scale one. In any case, major players in the Republican Party are in favor of this decision.”
