"Badly Negotiated": Trump Rejects Putin's Nuclear Freeze Proposal

The collapse of New START for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty has pushed Washington and Moscow into their first unconstrained nuclear posture since 2010, with U.S. President Donald Trump rejecting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to extend deployment caps and instead demanding a renegotiated framework. The decision removes the last legally binding limits on the world’s two largest arsenals, reopening strategic competition at a moment already shaped by war in Ukraine and rising global anxiety over nuclear escalation.

From Extension to Renegotiation

Trump said Thursday he would not accept Putin’s offer of a voluntary extension of the treaty’s limits, arguing that New START had been “badly negotiated.”

Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated:

Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (a badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved, and modernized treaty that can last long into the future.

U.S. President Donald Trump

New START, signed in 2010 by Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev and extended in 2021 by Putin and Joe Biden, capped each side at 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 missiles and bombers. Its expiry this week eliminates verification regimes and numerical ceilings that had structured U.S.-Russian strategic stability for 15 years.

Putin had offered last year to abide by the treaty for another year if Washington reciprocated. According to Al Jazeera, delegations meeting in Abu Dhabi to discuss Ukraine also explored a six-month informal extension, but this would amount only to a political handshake, as the treaty itself allows no further renewals.

“Responsible Stability,” Competing Red Lines

The Kremlin expressed regret over the expiration. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would continue a “responsible, thorough approach to stability when it comes to nuclear weapons,” adding that Moscow would be guided by its national interests.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev had framed the stakes more starkly, saying: “It is obvious that nuclear weapons are nuclear weapons. This is an extraordinary weapon, and exceptionally dangerous for the fate of all humanity. But if the fate of the country is at stake, no one should have any doubts.”

Trump has signaled that any replacement treaty should also include China, though Beijing has shown little interest.

The U.S. has long argued New START constrained its ability to deploy against both Russia and China, while Moscow has accused Washington of violations. The result is a widening capability gap in formal arms control just as nuclear signaling has intensified around Ukraine.

Europe Presses for Limits

European officials warned the treaty’s collapse risks accelerating militarization, reflecting Europe’s long-standing suspicion of Moscow and deep fears over Russian expansionism. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Feb. 2 that Russia had attacked “at least 19 countries” in the past century, while “none” had attacked Russia, calling for concessions on “their military budget, their army, or nuclear weapons.”

Her remarks came amid broader concern that the erosion of treaties and taboos is lowering thresholds for nuclear coercion.

Recent fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan has further unsettled analysts, while Putin has previously suggested Russia could resort to nuclear weapons in response to Western military support for Ukraine.

A Post-Treaty Strategic Landscape

The first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in 1991 between the United States and the Soviet Union. New START followed in 2010, becoming the final pillar of bilateral arms control after earlier agreements collapsed.

With its expiry, both sides are now free to expand deployed warheads and delivery systems beyond the 1,550 and 700 ceilings, absent any replacement framework.

Moscow says it remains open to dialogue. Washington says talks must begin from scratch. Between those positions lies a strategic vacuum, with verification suspended, caps lifted, and diplomacy reduced to exploratory contacts in venues such as Abu Dhabi. For now, the post-New START era has begun without guardrails.