(MENAFN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on the United States to consider a proposal for a one-year extension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty, which is set to expire on February 5.

The 2010 agreement limits deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 and restricts the number of nuclear-capable missiles, launchers, and heavy bombers. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested extending the treaty for one year, citing the need to prevent an arms race and avoid further escalation.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Lavrov reiterated that the offer remains available:

“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,” he said.

Lavrov added that “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.”

The Russian Defense Ministry noted last month that it had yet to receive a substantive response from Washington regarding the proposal.

On October 30, US President Donald Trump directed preparations for nuclear weapons tests “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, though Energy Secretary Chris Wright later clarified that the tests would not involve actual nuclear explosions, which the US ceased conducting in 1992. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated last week that Moscow would not lift its own nuclear test moratorium unless the US does so first.

Both nations have conducted recent test launches of unarmed nuclear-capable missiles. The United States fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, while Russia tested its new nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile last month.

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