Russia Prepares for End of New START Treaty

Russia's top arms control official declared on Tuesday that Moscow is prepared for a world without nuclear arms limitations as the New START treaty nears its expiration at the end of the week. The agreement, the last major pact constraining the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia, will lapse on February 5 unless a last-minute deal is reached between Washington and Moscow.

Signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, New START caps each side at 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, along with limits of 800 deployed launchers and heavy bombers. The treaty marked a reduction of nearly 30 percent from previous limits set in 2002 and has been the cornerstone of bilateral nuclear stability since the Cold War era. Its end would represent the first time since 1972 that the world's two largest nuclear powers face no legal restrictions on their strategic arsenals.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's lead negotiator on arms control, addressed the issue while in Beijing, where he spoke to the state news agency TASS. He noted the absence of any U.S. response to Moscow's proposals for extending the treaty's core...