(MENAFN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday called on the United States to accept Moscow’s proposal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty for one year, warning that the clock is running out before its scheduled expiration on February 5.

Signed in 2010, the New START pact limits each side to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and imposes strict caps on nuclear-capable missiles, launchers, and heavy bombers — making it the last major arms control agreement still in force between Washington and Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin first proposed the one-year extension in September, stressing the need to prevent a renewed arms race. Lavrov said the offer “remains on the table,” urging Washington to take action before time runs out.

“Let’s take a year to cool down, if you will, and consider the responsibility of great powers for global security and stability, especially in preventing a nuclear war. We are ready,” Lavrov said.

He noted that the extension could be enacted at any point before the deadline. “The extensions of the numerical limits could be announced at any moment before February 5. By the way, when New START was extended shortly after US President Joe Biden assumed office [in 2021], it was done just a few days before its expiration date,” he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported last month that it has yet to receive a substantive reply from Washington regarding the proposal.

Tensions around nuclear testing have also intensified. On October 30, then–US President Donald Trump directed his administration to conduct nuclear weapons tests “on an equal basis” with Russia and China. Energy Secretary Chris Wright later clarified that the tests would exclude actual nuclear detonations, which the United States has not carried out since 1992.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s position that Russia will maintain its own moratorium on nuclear tests unless Washington resumes testing first.

Both countries have recently demonstrated their strategic capabilities: the U.S. launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, while Russia tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile last month.

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