On 9 October, Austria, the Arms Control Association and DeepCuts held a side event on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee to discuss advancing the goals of Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), particularly in light of the anticipated expiration of the New START Treaty in February 2026.
Austria, together with other States, recently circulated a joint statement calling for “the urgent commencement of negotiations for a successor agreement” to New START, formally called the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
The side event took place a few weeks after President Vladimir Putin proposed, on 22 September, that the Russian Federation would observe the central limits of New START for one year if the United States “acts in a similar spirit”. While President Donald Trump later declared that President Putin’s proposal sounded like a good idea, the United States had issued no formal response as of this writing. The expiration of the Treaty will mark the first time in over 50 years that no bilateral arms control agreements are in force between the countries.
Mr. Alexander Kmentt, Director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Department of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, argued that the expiration of New START should concern everyone and stressed there was a need to return to trust building and nuclear risk reduction. He underlined the urgency to preserve what has been achieved and agree on further limitations of nuclear arsenals. He stressed that such developments are crucial for the upcoming NPT Review Conference and welcomed positive signs from the Russian Federation and the United States in this regard. He emphasized the opportunity for the international community to support this initiative, recalling Austria’s joint statement calling for the commencement of negotiations.
Ms. Shizuka Kuramitsu (Research Assistant, Arms Control Association) highlighted the absence of formal negotiations on a new agreement, notwithstanding recent positive indications. She said the side event aimed to contribute to the discussion on New START by introducing various regional perspectives.
Mr. Daryl Kimball (Executive Director, Arms Control Association) noted the limited time remaining and welcomed President Trump’s and President Putin’s recent statements. He cautioned that both sides could double the size of their arsenals without a framework in place, stressing that their existing arsenals are sufficient for deterrence. He underlined the importance of maintaining New START numbers for at least a year to create a better atmosphere for negotiation of a formal successor agreement and encouraged other States to support this initiative.
Pavel Podvig (Senior Researcher, Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research) described President Putin’s recent initiative as a positive step that should be taken seriously. Drawing on United States-Russian (and Soviet) arms control history, he underlined that the value of the process is not necessarily in discussion on numbers but rather in the opportunity for tangible engagement in a very challenging context. He also noted Russia was open to discussing verification and cited technical means to address some existing concerns.
Julia Berghofer (Senior Policy Fellow, European Leadership Network) stressed that the absence of agreement in February 2026 would constitute a “watershed moment”, arguing that the Russian proposal needed to be assessed carefully and critically. She highlighted there was no unified European perspective on the matter, while underlining the benefits of such an extension — notably for the negotiating atmosphere of the NPT Review Conference — as well as its limits. She encouraged European States to engage in the discussions and push for the resumption of data exchange.
Speakers highlighted that the expiration of New START in February 2026 should prompt the United States, Russian Federation and other States to support the resumption of negotiations. They stressed that the Russian initiative is a step in the right direction but should be carefully assessed. The absence of an arrangement after February 2026 would introduce significant risks of a new arms race and have negative implications for the 2026 NPT Review Conference. Conversely, a successor agreement would have a strong normative power, including in the context of discussions on the NPT’s Article VI. It was suggested that European States could play a positive role by engaging with the United States on the matter while other States could support the initiative by issuing statements in multilateral forums.
During the question-and-answer session, delegates raised questions on topics such as Russian interest in an extension, the possible United States response, implications for the NPT, engagement with China and Europe, the role of non-nuclear-weapon States, and the relevance of New START to the development of emerging technologies.
Additional information and resources
Xiaodon Liang, Russia Proposes One-Year New START Extension, Arms Control Association, October 2025, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2025-10/news/russia-proposes-one-year-new-start-extension
DeepCuts, After the New START Treaty, September 2025, https://deepcuts.org/publications/statements-briefings/after-the-new-start-treaty
