Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated a willingness to let the final remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expire, favoring the pursuit of a broader agreement that might include additional countries, as reported by the New York Times.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the New START treaty, which has been in effect since 2011, restricts each nation to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and limits deployed delivery systems, such as missiles, bombers, and submarines, to 700. The treaty is scheduled to expire on February 5. In an interview conducted on Wednesday, Trump remarked, “If it expires, it expires,” hinting at his disinclination to accept Russia’s offer to maintain the treaty’s constraints.

Trump further asserted, “We’ll just do a better agreement,” and suggested the inclusion of “a couple of other players” in any new arrangement. Should the treaty expire, the United States and Russia would find themselves without binding constraints on their nuclear stockpiles for the first time in nearly fifty years.

The original duration of the treaty was ten years. However, in 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to prolong the treaty by five years, marking the last extension allowed under its conditions. In September, Putin reportedly suggested that Russia might continue to adhere voluntarily to the treaty if the United States would reciprocate.