Trump signals support for maintaining nuclear limits with Russia
U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 5 expressed openness to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to voluntarily limit deployed strategic nuclear weapons.
Putin last month proposed maintaining limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals set by the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) if the United States does the same. The treaty, signed in 2010, is set to expire in February 2026.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Trump told reporters as he left the White House when asked about Putin's proposal.
New START set a limit of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and a combined total of 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers for each signatory.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia had an estimated 5,580 nuclear warheads as of March 2024, including about 1,200 awaiting dismantlement — the largest stockpile in the world.
Russia's arsenal includes both tactical weapons for battlefield use and strategic weapons capable of reaching the United States.
Moscow has repeatedly issued nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. While those threats have not materialized, concerns persist over Russia's military ambitions beyond Ukraine.
Over the summer, the U.S. president ordered two U.S. nuclear-powered submarines to be repositioned to "appropriate regions" in response to inflammatory language from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who threatened nuclear escalation.
