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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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The number of countries with nuclear weapons could soon grow, according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who warned of the consequences of nuclear proliferation should a treaty limiting such weapons expire next month.
Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council and an ally of the country's leader, said in an interview that President Vladimir Putin had not received a response to Moscow's offer to Washington to extend the New START treaty limiting nuclear competition.
Medvedev told the newspaper Kommersant that Moscow might have to wait until the expiry of the treaty on February 5 for a U.S. response to the Russian initiative.
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When contacted for comment, a White House official told Newsweek Monday: "The president will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline."
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Why It Matters
Struck in 2010, the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, or New START, caps the nuclear weapons of the U.S. and Russia, which possess 90 percent of the world's stockpile of such arms. As well as capping the arsenals at 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed long-range missiles and heavy bombers each, the treaty also allows data-sharing, monitoring and inspection to verify compliance and is a brake on unconstrained nuclear competition.
In February 2023, Putin announced that Russia would suspend its participation in New START because of Washington's support for Ukraine, and the U.S. under the Biden administration later mirrored the move.
After U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, Putin called for bilateral engagement on arms control without insisting on an end to U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Medvedev's comments that Moscow wants to extend the deal if only Trump were to agree comes amid his nuclear threats and a warning that the nuclear club would grow.
What To Know
In an interview with Kommersant published on Monday, Medvedev said the New START treaty had played a positive role in curbing the nuclear arms race, and that both Russia and the U.S. had stuck to its main restrictions.
However, the most important thing was for ties between the U.S. and Russia to be restored, with relations at their lowest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Medvedev said. He said Trump's "Golden Dome" and statements about resuming nuclear testing complicated any potential strategic dialogue between Russia and the United States.
But Moscow is still eagerly awaiting a "meaningful reaction" from the U.S. to Putin's initiative. He added that global instability was pushing countries to look at acquiring nuclear weapons.
The White House told Newsweek Monday that Trump has spoken of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in talks.
Medvedev's comments come as YouGov polling released last week found that 91 percent of Americans said the U.S. should negotiate a new agreement with Russia to either maintain current limits on nuclear weapons or further reduce both countries' arsenals.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted on January 8-9, and it also found that 85 percent of those who voted for Trump believed he should agree to Russia's proposal to continue abiding by the limits imposed by the New START treaty for at least another year after the treaty expires.
On November 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said extending the treaty would not require any additional efforts, meanwhile Trump has said he intends to negotiate a better agreement with Russia after New START expires.
Rose Gottemoeller, a former NATO deputy secretary-general who was chief U.S. negotiator for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, said in an op-ed in December for Arms Control Today that Trump could improve Putin's offer by proposing that both sides resume implementation and do so quickly.
Gottemoeller wrote, "The two sides would not have to negotiate; they only have to flip the implementation switch back on."
What People Are Saying
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair Russia's Security Council, told Kommersant: "It cannot be ruled out that some countries will consider that the most optimal option is acquiring nuclear weapons. I believe that the 'nuclear club' will continue to expand in the future."
U.S. President Donald Trump said in June that he wanted to maintain the limits outlined by New START: "When you take off nuclear restrictions, that's a big problem."
A White House official told Newsweek: "The President will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline. President Trump has spoken repeatedly of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in arms control talks."
Rose Gottemoeller, a former NATO deputy secretary-general, wrote in an op-ed for Arms Control Today: "Russia and the United States could resume full implementation of New START before February 5, 2026. It could be simple and it could be fast."
What Happens Next
Medvedev's comments suggest that Russia is eagerly awaiting a response from the Trump administration ahead of New START's February 5 expiry date, adding tensions over the nuclear threat that Moscow poses—especially with its recent missile testing and rhetoric toward the West over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Update 01/26/26, 09:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a White House statement.
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