Although the US and Russia are negotiating an agreement to restore the New START nuclear arms control treaty, according to sources cited by 'Axios', they have not reached an agreement after the existing one expired on February 5. New START sets limits on missiles, launchers and strategic warheads. Donald Trump calls for a new treaty. Below, an x-ray of the capabilities of these nuclear powers.
First modification: 02/05/2026 - 18:44 Last modification: 02/05/2026 - 18:48
Arms control experts say the termination of the New START Treaty could set the stage for an unrestricted nuclear arms race.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in 2025 his willingness to "respect" the treaty's limits for one more year if Washington followed suit, but US President Donald Trump has been evasive about an extension and has indicated that he wants China to be part of a new pact, something Beijing has rejected.
During the last 24 hours, Washington and Moscow have been negotiating a possible agreement to resume the agreement before its expiration on February 5, according to three sources with knowledge of the conversations who spoke with the American news portal 'Axios'.
For his part, Donald Trump assured this Thursday that he wants "a new, improved and modernized treaty" to replace New START.
However, there is no agreement yet. Questions are growing not only about whether a resumption of the pact will be possible, but also about what the current nuclear capabilities of the two powers are.
Read alsoNuclear proliferation agreement between the US and Russia expires
What is the nuclear potential of the United States?
The EFE news agency highlights that in addition to the 1,770 warheads deployed, the United States has 1,930 stored. In total, it has 3,700 nuclear weapons, the second country only behind Russia, with 4,309.
The total US inventory, if retired warheads are added, is 5,177.
Washington has carried out more than 1,000 nuclear tests since 1945 and is the only country in the world that has used the atomic bomb on civilians. He did it in 1945 over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and massacred more than 200,000 people.
Read alsoRussia affirms that it is "no longer obliged" to limit nuclear weapons after the end of the treaty with the US.
What is Russia's nuclear capacity?
The country governed for more than 20 years by Vladimir Putin has the largest number of nuclear warheads in the world: 1,718 warheads deployed and 2,591 in storage. Russia's total inventory, if retired warheads are added, is 5,459.
Russia and the United States began talks to limit their nuclear weapons capacity in the late 1960s, but it was not until May 26, 1976 when the then USSR and the United States signed the first agreement in Moscow, the SALT-1 Treaty, which limited for the first time the number of intercontinental strategic weapons with more than 5,000 km.
Since 1957, Russia has carried out more than 200 nuclear tests.
The United States and Russia concentrate 87% of the nuclear weapons that exist in the world.
Read alsoNew START Treaty: Moscow suspends US inspections of Russian military facilities
What nuclear capacity do other nations have?
There are other countries with important nuclear capabilities, but behind Moscow and Washington.
The United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel complete the list of countries that possess nuclear arsenals. However, not all nations have weapons deployed.
The British territory, the third country to carry out nuclear tests, after the United States and Russia, has 120 warheads deployed and 105 in storage. In total, 225 nuclear weapons make up its arsenal, which is based mainly on Trident and Vanguard class submarines.
France – the only country in the European Union that has a nuclear arsenal and the fourth to carry out atomic tests and has carried out 210 tests since 1960 – has 280 warheads deployed and 10 in storage (290 in total), France is the only country in the European Union that has a nuclear arsenal.
Read also: What are Iran's ballistic capabilities?: Tehran's "red line" ahead of the meeting with the US.
What did the New START treaty establish?
Signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev, this agreement limited each party to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads on a maximum of 700 missiles and bombers, deployed and ready for use. It was originally scheduled to expire in 2021, but was extended for a further five years.
The pact provided for extensive on-site inspections to verify compliance, although they were interrupted in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and never resumed.
In February 2023, Putin suspended Moscow's involvement, stating that Russia could not allow US inspections of its nuclear facilities at a time when Washington and its NATO allies had openly stated that Moscow's defeat in Ukraine was their goal. At the same time, the Kremlin emphasized that it was not withdrawing from the pact entirely, pledging to respect its limits on nuclear weapons.
By offering, in September 2025, to respect New START limits for a year so that both sides could negotiate a successor agreement, Putin asserted that the treaty's expiration would be destabilizing and could fuel nuclear proliferation.
New START was the last remaining pact in a long series of agreements between the US and Russia to limit their nuclear arsenals, beginning with SALT I in 1972.
Read alsoPutin is committed to prolonging the nuclear arms control treaty: what does the proposal consist of?
What is the biggest new US demand on New START?
The current president of the United States, Donald Trump, assures that he wants China in a possible new treaty. The White House leader has indicated he would like to maintain limits on nuclear weapons, but wants to involve Beijing.
“In fact, I firmly believe that, if we are going to do it, China should be a member of the extension (…) China should be part of the agreement,” Trump told The New York Times last January.
During his first term, Trump tried, unsuccessfully, to push for a three-way nuclear pact with China. But Beijing has balked at any restrictions on its smaller but growing nuclear arsenal, while urging the United States to resume nuclear talks with Russia.
“China's nuclear forces are not at all on the same scale as those of the United States and Russia, so China will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at the current stage,” declared Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Thursday, February 5.
The official added that China regrets the expiration of New START, urges the United States to soon resume nuclear dialogue with Russia, and responds positively to Moscow's suggestion that both sides continue to respect the treaty's fundamental limits for now.
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Peskov reaffirmed this Thursday that Moscow respects the Asian giant's position. The Kremlin leader and other Russian officials have repeatedly argued that any attempt to negotiate a broader nuclear pact, rather than a deal between the United States and Russia, should also include the nuclear arsenals of NATO members France and the United Kingdom.
Arms control advocates lamented the end of the treaty and warned of an imminent threat of a new arms race.
“If the Trump Administration continues to evade nuclear arms control diplomacy with Russia and decides to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the strategic arsenal deployed by the United States, it will only cause Russia to follow suit and encourage China to accelerate its current strategic development in an attempt to maintain a strategic retaliatory nuclear strike capability against the United States (…) Such a scenario could lead to a dangerous three-way nuclear weapons development that would last for years,” stated Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington, quoted by the AP news agency.
Read alsoPutin suspends Russia's participation in the New START nuclear disarmament treaty
With AP and EFE
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