MOSCOW 

Russia said that as of Wednesday, parties to the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) are no longer bound by obligations or symmetrical declarations, and are free in choosing their subsequent steps.

The Foreign Ministry said it strived to extend the treaty, with the last initiative put forward Sept. 22, when Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly proposed to keep caps on relevant weapons specified in the treaty for at least one year after its termination.

But no formal response from the US with regard to the initiative has been received through bilateral channels, it said.

"In the current circumstances, we assume that the parties to the New START are no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations in the context of the Treaty, including its core provisions, and are in principle free to choose their next steps," it stressed.

Russia intends to act "responsibly and in a balanced manner, developing its policy in the field of strategic offensive arms on the basis of a thorough analysis of the US military policy and the overall situation in the strategic sphere," it noted.

The ministry reiterated a readiness to take decisive military-technical measures to counter potential additional threats to national security.

"At the same time, our country remains open to seeking politico-diplomatic ways to comprehensively stabilize the strategic situation on the basis of equal and mutually beneficial dialogue solutions, if the appropriate conditions for such cooperation are shaped," it said.

The New START was the last remaining legally binding agreement limiting US and Russian strategic nuclear forces. The expiration raises fears of a new era of unregulated nuclear competition.