US President Donald Trump has indicated that he may let the latest arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expire and would not accept Moscow's offer to voluntarily extend the deal, according to statements released on Monday, Reuters reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed in September that the two countries voluntarily continue to respect the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set out in the New START treaty, which expires on February 5.
"If it expires, it expires," Trump told the New York Times.
"We'll simply make a better deal."
According to the newspaper, Trump said that China should be included in any future agreement.
Spokespersons for the Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
The 2010 New START agreement cannot be extended further. The treaty only allowed for one extension, and Putin and former US President Joseph Biden agreed to extend it for five years in 2021.
The treaty limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads of the US and Russia to 1.550, as well as the number of their delivery means – missiles, aircraft and submarines – to 700.
Bonus video:
