Expert Mello: Nuclear Stability Requires Peace in Ukraine

The American representative of the anti-war and anti-nuclear movement noted that NATO sees a threat in the end of the Ukrainian conflict

February 3, 2026

Editorial Board of the TASS website

WASHINGTON, February 4. /Correspondent. TASS Dmitry Kirsanov/. True strategic stability requires peace in Ukraine, and NATO sees this as a threat. This opinion was expressed to TASS by the American representative of the anti-war and anti-nuclear movement, Greg Mello, who heads the Los Alamos Study Group in New Mexico. He commented on the upcoming expiration of the Russian-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START) on February 5.

Genuine stability in the nuclear sphere, and this is much more than what the New START Treaty has ever provided, requires, first of all, real peace in Ukraine, and not just a ceasefire. This peace will require bona fide investments of various kinds, which can only be based on genuine guarantees, and not just handshakes," the expert believes. In the United States, it is customary to call the mentioned document the New START.

"Meanwhile, the US Congress, unfortunately, is still seriously infected with Russophobia, which limits [President Donald] Trump's freedom of action in this regard. And NATO sees a threat in peace in Ukraine, but it will have to follow Trump if he leads," Mello said.

According to him, "the danger of nuclear war ‹...› remains much higher than seems acceptable." "Nevertheless, I believe that a breakthrough is possible. And the current missed opportunity, if it really turns out to be missed, should spur us to work more intensively for the time being," the expert is convinced.

"Of course, there is nothing good in the inability [of the United States] to extend the deadlines for maintaining the restrictions of the New START Treaty. However, this is not the end of the world. There will be new favorable opportunities, and we should prepare for them," the social activist believes.

The White House and the State Department did not previously respond to a request from TASS to report whether the American side has any new announcements regarding its decisions on the New START Treaty. 

About the contract

The New START Treaty was signed in 2010. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February 2023 that Moscow was suspending participation in the agreement, but was not withdrawing from it. The head of state stressed that the Russian side, before returning to the discussion of the continuation of work within the framework of the treaty, should understand for itself how it will take into account the arsenals of not only the United States, but also the arsenals of other NATO nuclear powers - Great Britain and France.

According to the terms of the document, each of the parties reduces its strategic offensive arms in such a way that seven years after its entry into force and thereafter, their total number does not exceed 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and heavy bombers (TB), 1,550 warheads on them, 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers. SLBMs and TBs. Putin said last September at a meeting with the Security Council of the Russian Federation that Moscow, after the expiration of the New START Treaty, is ready to continue to adhere to the quantitative restrictions on the document for another year. However, he noted, this measure is viable only if Washington acts in a similar way. Answering a question from TASS on October 5, 2025, Trump called Putin's proposal a good idea. However, the United States did not take any practical actions in response to Russia's proposals.