Trump rejects call from Russia’s Putin to extend cap on nuclear deployments

US president says that he wants to negotiate replacement for strategic nuclear deployment treaty that recently expired.

United States President Donald Trump has shot down an offer from Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin proposing a voluntary extension of recently-expired limits on the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons.

Trump said on Thursday that he wants negotiators from both countries to sit down and hammer out a new agreement, calling the old treaty “badly negotiated”.

“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump said on his social media network, Truth Social.

Trump has previously stated that he would like China to be involved in the new treaty, but authorities in Beijing have shown little interest in doing so.

The expiration of the New START pact means fewer limits on the massive nuclear arsenals of the US and Russia, spurring concerns over a potential arms race at a time of resurgent anxiety over nuclear weapons.