MOSCOW

Russia will continue observing the limits of the last major nuclear arms treaty with the United States as long as Washington does not exceed them, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

The New START treaty, which capped the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and launchers, expired earlier this month.

Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed that both sides continue to comply with the treaty’s limits on a voluntary basis, but Moscow has received no official response from Washington.

"We proceed from the understanding that this moratorium on our part, which was announced by the president, remains in effect, but only as long as the US also does not exceed the mentioned limits," Lavrov added.

Greenland, Venezuela, Europe

Commenting on Greenland, Lavrov said the issue does not directly concern Moscow and should be resolved between Denmark and the United States.

However, he warned that if Greenland were militarized in a way that threatens Russia, Moscow would respond with “military-technical” countermeasures.

Turning to broader tensions with the West, Lavrov accused Western countries of attempting to preserve global dominance amid what he described as a shift toward a “multipolar world order.”

The future, he said, “will be accompanied by a struggle between the old former leaders, who are concentrated in the West, and new, ascendant centers of development representing the global majority."

"The West has still not rid itself of the mania of its colonial and, I am not afraid to use this word, slave-owning grandeur," he added.

He criticized US actions against Venezuela and Cuba, as well as French involvement in conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region.

He also said Germany’s push to strengthen its military reflected what he called “revanchist fantasies.”

He said Russia is defending its “legitimate rights” in the emerging international system, adding that Moscow has received no signals from Europe about normalizing relations but would consider any proposals.

On Ukraine, Lavrov said Russia remains ready to pursue a diplomatic settlement based on agreements reached during a presidential meeting with the US in Anchorage in August 2025.