New START Has Expired: What’s at Stake and What’s Next February 5, 2026

Today, New START, the last remaining arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, expired. These two countries, hosting 80% of the world’s nuclear weapons, have not been unconstrained since 1972. This lack of agreement between the two states shapes a new era of potential arms racing, with both the U.S. and Russia developing plans for increased nuclear arsenals. With the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight and diminishing norms of peaceful, good-faith negotiation among nuclear powers, we are alarmed by the expiration of this long-standing agreement. In times of crisis and escalation, it is clear that the only acceptable path forward that secures our future is toward disarmament and abolition.

PSR knows what’s at stake if an agreement is not reached between the U.S. and Russia: costly arms racing jeopardizing taxpayers’ health, increased risk of conflict or war, and potential explosive nuclear testing harming countless individuals and environments are just a few of the possible consequences of this agreement’s lapse.

However, with this extreme risk comes the opportunity to strengthen commitments to arms control, cooperation for disarmament, and nuclear abolition. The U.S. and Russia have the opportunity to come to the table again and forge a new path forward that secures our global humanity and future. We need to join together in calling on these governments to come to an agreement that places urgency on disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Join PSR in taking action, speak to your representatives, and call on Trump to come to the nuclear negotiation table to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons through the only way possible — abolition.