The New START Treaty — the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States — is due to expire on Thursday, February 5, 2026. That’s six days from now.

The treaty, signed during the Obama administration in 2010, sets limits on the strategic weapons that each side would be allowed to use to target one another other’s critical political and military centers in the event of a nuclear war. It also caps the number of deployed strategic warheads at 1,550 on each side, with no more than 700 deployed ground- or submarine-launched missiles and bomber planes to deliver them. [Dmitry Antonov and Andrew Osborn, Reuters, January 29, 2026.]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed extending the provisions of the treaty for another year. But he is still waiting for a response from the U.S. side. And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters that allowing the treaty to expire “could lead to a serious gap in the legal framework regulating nuclear arms.” [Id.]

So why has Donald Trump not responded to this crucial issue? It seems simple enough. Is he unaware of the deadline? Is he too busy with his ballroom and his Mar-a-Lago bacchanalias to bother? Or is he thinking of using this as some sort of strategic leverage in other negotiations?

Nuclear power is not a carrot on a stick. It is not a tariff that can be invoked and revoked at will. Both sides have more than enough nuclear weapons and delivery systems to destroy the world; we don’t need proliferation, nor would it serve any purpose. Extend the damned treaty already!

One Nero was enough.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/30/26