Russia's Medvedev says expiry of New START should alarm the world

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security ‌Council, said that if the New START treaty expired with ⁠no replacement then the world should be alarmed that the biggest nuclear powers had ​no limits for probably the first time ‍since the early 1970s. "I don't want to say that this immediately means a catastrophe and ⁠a ‌nuclear ⁠war will begin, but it should still alarm ‍everyone," Medvedev told Reuters, TASS and the ​WarGonzo Russian war blogger in an interview ⁠at his residence outside Moscow.

Arms control treaties, Medvedev said, ⁠played a crucial role not just in limiting the number of warheads ⁠but also as a way to verify intentions ⁠and ‌to ensure some element of trust between major nuclear powers.