Russia says it will stick to limits of expired nuclear treaty if US does

"Russia has said it will abide by limits on its nuclear weapons as set out in a lapsed arms control treaty with the United States, as long as Washington continues to do the same. The New START agreement expired earlier this month, leaving the world's two biggest nuclear-armed powers with no binding constraints on their strategic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century and sparking fears of a new global arms race."

"We proceed from the fact that this moratorium, which was announced by our president, remains in effect, but only while the United States does not exceed the outlined limits, said Lavrov. We have reason to believe that the United States is in no hurry to abandon these limits and that they will be observed for the foreseeable future, he said, without explaining the basis for that assumption."

"US President Donald Trump rejected an offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin to voluntarily abide by the limits set out in New START for another year, saying he wanted a new, improved and modernised treaty rather than an extension of the old one. Russia has also indicated it wants to strike a new arms control agreement. Washington is pushing for China to be included in the talks, pointing to its growing nuclear arsenal."

Russia will abide by limits on its nuclear weapons set out in the lapsed New START treaty provided the United States does the same. The New START agreement expired earlier this month, leaving no binding constraints on US and Russian strategic arsenals and raising fears of a renewed global arms race. Moscow says it is in no rush to develop or deploy more weapons and maintains a presidential moratorium while the United States respects the outlined limits, though Moscow did not explain its basis for expecting US compliance. The US rejected a voluntary one-year extension and seeks a new, modernised treaty. Washington wants China included in future talks as Beijing's arsenal expands rapidly, but China refuses because it has far fewer warheads.

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