Russia Charts a Lonely Path of Nuclear Restraint for One Year

Russia is charting a lonely, unilateral path of nuclear restraint, at least for the next year. President Vladimir Putin announced that despite the expiration of the New START treaty, Moscow will voluntarily continue to observe its limits on nuclear weapons in a bid to preserve global stability.
In a televised address, Putin said this decision was made to avoid escalating tensions and to maintain a degree of predictability. He stated Russia is not interested in an arms race and believes it is “justified to try to maintain the status quo” established by the landmark treaty.
However, Russia does not intend to walk this path alone indefinitely. Putin issued a clear call for the United States to join him. He emphasized that this voluntary measure is only considered “viable” in the long run if the U.S. reciprocates and refrains from actions that could upset the strategic nuclear balance.
This unilateral step is also being framed as a potential bridge to diplomacy. Putin suggested that this act of restraint could help foster the necessary conditions for a “substantive strategic dialogue” between the two nuclear powers, a critical step toward normalizing their fraught relationship.
The one-year duration of this commitment makes it a provisional policy. It gives Russia and the world a temporary buffer against an arms race, but the future beyond that depends heavily on whether the United States chooses to walk a similar path.