Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a news conference after the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP)

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was developing new strategic weapons and it would not be critical for Moscow if the United States declined to extend the warhead limits set out in a nuclear arms treaty that expires next year.

He said it would, however, be a shame if nothing remained of the arms control framework between the two countries, which have by far the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals.

Speaking to reporters at a summit in Tajikistan, Putin said an arms race was already in progress. Russia has said it is willing to voluntarily extend the warhead limits defined in the New START treaty, which expi

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