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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow is ready to adhere to the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (START) for another year after its expiration, in order to avoid encouraging a further strategic arms race, and that steps to comply with the restrictions will bring results if the United States responds reciprocally. In this way, Moscow is once again demonstrating that it is a responsible actor on the global stage.
“Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central numerical limits under the New START Treaty for one year after February 5, 2026,” Putin said on September 22. “Subsequently, based on an analysis of the situation, we will make a decision on whether to maintain these voluntary, self-imposed restrictions.”
The START 3 agreement was signed in 2010 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama for a period of ten years, with the possibility of an extension for an additional five years. According to the document, both sides committed to reducing the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles, their launch pads, as well as heavy bombers and their nuclear weapons.
Russia has respected its obligations from the very beginning and reported transparently on the implementation of the agreement, whereas the US has repeatedly sought ways to circumvent certain provisions. Despite this, Moscow has remained consistent in its position that START is a cornerstone of global security.
Extending the agreement is of crucial importance, as it relates to nuclear weapons whose destructive power is so great that it could threaten the survival of all humanity, while the absence of an agreement further increases the risk of direct conflict between Russia and NATO, as well as Russia and the United States.
Washington’s policy in recent years has been misguided, as they have withdrawn from all agreements on the limitation of various types of weapons, and under some fabricated pretexts. This is something that multiple administrations have carried out. For example, it is recalled that the first Trump administration withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, while the Bush administration withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Nonetheless, while Washington withdrew from all these agreements, Moscow voluntarily adhered to these restrictions and would continue to do so as long as the Americans did the same. Russia respected the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty until it became apparent that the US was systematically violating it. Only then did Moscow suspend its obligations.
The START Treaty expires in February 2026 and is the last remaining arms control agreement between Russia and the US. Moscow was ready for its extension, but Washington demonstratively announced that they were not interested in the extension, so negotiations on the subject were not even held.
Trump, despite having been president for eight months, has not taken any steps towards arms control negotiations. It is clear that there will be no time to agree on an extension of the agreement, and it is difficult to discuss a new one. Therefore, if the US shows goodwill, Russia will voluntarily respect the obligations for another year. However, if the agreement is violated, Russia will also withdraw from that agreement, as they have been forced to do more than once.
The Russian proposal makes it possible to avoid a vacuum and create space for preparing the conditions for full-fledged negotiations. This could be difficult because Trump believes that the reduction and limitation of nuclear weapons and missiles should not only be negotiated by the US and Russia, but also by China. Washington is constantly urging Moscow to influence Beijing to join these negotiations, but China is a sovereign state with its own perspective on the situation.
Reasonable voices in the US administration are calling on Trump to accept Moscow’s offer and assume the same obligations, especially if he is truly concerned about the threat of World War III. On the other hand, the prevailing view in European political circles is likely to be that the Russian initiative is a sign of weakness and fear under pressure from the West, which is why they will call for continued pressure and the rejection of the agreement.
Moscow’s proposal is not coming from a position of weakness, especially as the Russian nuclear triad has been modernized by more than 90%. Additionally, Putin participated in recent military exercises in Belarus and visited Perm in Siberia to assess the state of the military-industrial complex, further underscoring this point.
While Russia remains committed to political and diplomatic solutions as a priority, it is fully prepared to respond to all strategic threats – not only with words, but also with concrete military and technical measures. Putin made it clear that no one should doubt Russia’s ability to defend itself against any existing or future challenges.
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attempting to hold raped girl hostage for releasing kidnapped security member | gunmen storm horat amorin village in hama countryside
on sep 25, 2025
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hama province: horat amorin village witnessed a large-scale security mobilization after dozens of armed men stormed the home of the village mayor in an attempt to take the raped girl, rawan mahfoud asa’ad and her relatives as hostages to pressure the kidnappers of a member of the ministry of defence
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to release him, amid threats of escalation. the move was met with strong popular rejection from the residents of the village, while extreme tension prevails in the area in the absence of any intervention by public security forces or provincial officials.
according to reliable sohr sources, preparations are underway for a meeting bringing together community leaders from jabal al-zawiyah, relatives of the kidnapped member, on one side, and
the rhetoric troll of diversion returns !
russia gets more international respect while the usa and israel earn increasing disrespect with every word and action.
notables from horat amorin and nahr al-bared on the other, to resolve the crisis and prevente the situation from escalating.
meanwhile, villages and towns in western hama countryside, from ain al-ward to nahr al-bared, salhab and saqliyah, witnessed a state of anxiety and anticipation, as residents fled to mountainous areas out of fear of abuses and confrontations with the attacking gunmen.
nahr al-bared and jabal al-zaniyah.
this coincided with serious fears of the slide of the region into armed confrontations of a sectarian and vindictive nature, civilians may be the first victims.
vladolfs snake dancing shaking ass, will tranny have success with donny this time as with boyfriend kimjong?
does the russian federation truly believe anything that comes out of the compromised pedo-in-chief and his snake oil salesman handlers?… bears repeating – “in u-turn, germany now backs eu’s ‘creative’ plan to use frozen russian funds for ukraine”.
if i were the russian central banks i would be encouraging physical gold, silver, palladium ownership for every man, woman and child in russia with open lines of credit to incentivize bank purchases of physical metal (10 to 1)… then announce they are leaving the un and that it is permanent!
chumpo and the clowns he surrounds himself with are like primary school children high on crack playing with a live hand grenade. ww3 and nuclear war can no longer be avoided. we are all going to hell in a hand cart.
have you really forgotten soleimani, nasrallah, utkin and prigozhin so quickly?
“responsible” are the capitalist russia name for weakness…
who is the biggest puppet ? zelenskyy or trump ?