The U.S. Should Accept Putin's New START Offer

A one-year extension at least delays the day when there will be no restrictions on U.S. and Russian arsenals.

Last month, Putin proposed to voluntarily adhere to New START limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons for one year if the U.S. will do likewise. A week and a half later, the Russians are still waiting for an answer:

Russia is still waiting for U.S. President Donald Trump to respond to President Vladimir Putin’s offer to voluntarily maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons once a key arms control treaty expires, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Wednesday.

The U.S. should immediately accept this offer. It costs the U.S. nothing to continue respecting the treaty’s limits after New START expires next year. A one-year extension at least delays the day when there will be no restrictions on U.S. and Russian arsenals. It gives both governments additional time to negotiate a successor agreement. The danger is that Trump and his allies despise arms control so much and Trump is so enamored with his missile defense boondoggle that the U.S. will end up rejecting this perfectly reasonable proposal.