Trump Rejects New START Extension, Calls for New Nuclear Treaty Including China

US President Donald Trump rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to extend the New START nuclear arms treaty, which expired on February 5, ending decades of formal limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals. Trump criticized the treaty as "badly negotiated" and urged negotiators to develop a new, modernized agreement that includes China, whose growing arsenal Beijing refuses to limit. Russia expressed regret over the treaty's lapse, while experts warn its expiration may trigger a renewed global arms race. Trump also claimed credit for preventing nuclear conflicts between several countries, though some official records dispute these assertions.