““Renewing my encouragement for every constructive effort in favor of disarmament and mutual trust, I urge you not to abandon this instrument,” said Leo XIV”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
He reminded that the agreement signed by the USA and the Russian Federation in 2010 on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive weapons, which was “an important step for curbing the spread of nuclear weapons”, expires tomorrow.
“While renewing my encouragement for every constructive effort in favor of disarmament and mutual trust, I urge you not to abandon this instrument without trying to ensure its concrete and effective implementation,” said Leo XIV.
According to him, the current situation requires doing “everything possible to prevent a new arms race, which further threatens the peace between nations.”
The Treaty limiting the number of deployed Russian and American nuclear warheads expires on February 5, 2026. This will be the first time in more than half a century that the nuclear programs of the two countries will not have quantitative limits.
Read also: “Whip and gingerbread” for the USA – ISW analyzed the Kremlin’s statements regarding the nuclear weapons agreement
On February 3, the Kremlin warned of a “dangerous” moment as the Russia-US Nuclear Arms Treaty expires this week. “In just a few days, the world will find itself in a more dangerous situation than ever before,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president.
In September of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to adhere to the main terms of the Treaty, which include limiting each country to 1,550 strike-ready nuclear warheads for another year.
US President Donald Trump responded warmly to the Kremlin’s public appeal, telling reporters it “sounds like a good idea”, but recent calls from Moscow to formalize the deal have been met with silence. The US State Department declined to comment on the status of the nuclear treaty, referring RFE/RL’s requests to the White House.