Trump wants to replace New START with a treaty that includes China

By Jamie McIntyre

Published June 26, 2020 3:00am ET

Trump wants to replace New START with a treaty that includes China — A Nigerien soldier provides rear security for his squad while they performed a dismounted patrol during Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger, March 11, 2017. Flintlock exercises strengthen security institutions, promote multilateral sharing of information, and develop interoperability among partner nations in the Trans-Sahara. | U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zayid Ballesteros

When President Trump exited the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia in August 2018, it left in force only one agreement limiting nuclear arms: the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, negotiated by the Obama administration and signed by the United States and Russia in 2010.

New START, which limits each side to 1,550 deployed warheads, expires in February of next year but can be renewed for five more years if Washington and Moscow both agree.