On November 17, The American Conservative magazine (an conservative magazine in the US) published an article saying that US President Donald Trump should accept a new proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the New START Strategic arms Reduction Treaty.
The magazine believes this is the only way to avoid a geopolitical crisis and an expensive arms race.
The article notes that the New START - the last major remaining arms control treaty between Russia and the US - will expire on February 5, 2026. Without a new deal, the two nuclear powers could enter an arms race worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
The magazine also warned that China may participate in this race rather than be left behind, creating an unstable "nuclear triangle" scenario.
The Russian proposal, which the magazine mentioned, was made by President Putin on September 22. Mr. Putin said Moscow is ready to continue to comply with limitations on the number of nuclear weapons for another year after the treaty expires, if Washington also commits to do the same.
This is seen as a temporary extension proposal in the context of the two countries' relations being too tense to negotiate a comprehensive replacement treaty.
However, this proposal from Russia also comes with conditions. On October 22, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov clarified that Russia's initiative could only "if it were back to the US, it would be "uncompetitive". More importantly, Mr. Ryabkov asked Washington to abandon the "extreme anti-Russian hostility" of the previous US administration.
Meanwhile, on October 30, President Trump issued a directive to the Pentagon to prepare to resume nuclear weapons testing, citing other countries as doing the same.
The move was met with backlash from Moscow, with Deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warning on November 5 that US action would " force Russia to consider" a response.
However, in other statements on November 3 and 11, Mr. Trump said he wanted to "clear the nuclear" and discussed the issue with both Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi Jinping.
Current concerns point to tough actions as a possible springboard for an expensive arms race rather than leading to a "ague" that Trump wants.
