Context: The last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow is set to expire tomorrow; Moscow awaiting U.S. response to one-year extension offer; Russian drones strike Ukraine ahead of talks
- The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that the world was heading into a “dangerous” moment as the last U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty is set to expire this week.
- New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is set to expire on Thursday, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers.
- “In just a few days, the world will be in a more dangerous position than it has ever been before,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. The Kremlin, which has offered a one-year extension of the treaty, said “we still haven’t received a response from the Americans to this initiative”.
- If the treaty is not extended, the world’s top two nuclear powers would “be left without a fundamental document that would limit and control these arsenals,” for the first time.
- U.S. President Donald Trump, who cut many international agreements limiting the United States, said in September that an extension of the New START “sounds like a good idea,” but little has changed since then.
- Meanwhile, Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
- The barrage came a day before the two countries were due to attend U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.