Russia offered to maintain treaty limits for another year but received no formal response from Washington, demonstrating Moscow's responsible approach to strategic stability. The lapse leaves both powers without guardrails as the Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight, yet Russia remains open to dialogue while Trump refuses to engage. Time is running out to prevent an unchecked arms race that makes nuclear war more likely through accident or miscalculation.

The unraveling of New START reflects the erosion of U.S.–Russia strategic dialogue amid war, sanctions, and mutual distrust, leaving the world without binding limits on the two largest nuclear arsenals. Russia’s suspension of inspections and the United States’ limited progress toward a successor framework have weakened verification and transparency. As modernization accelerates, worst-case assumptions are embedding on both sides. Without renewed restraint and engagement, this path risks entrenching a more unstable and dangerous nuclear order.