Putin Loses His Only Trump Card

• 6.02.2026, 21:36

The U.S. has presented Russia with a difficult choice.

On February 5, the START-3 Treaty, which limited the nuclear arsenal of the United States and Russia, officially expired. The aggressor country found itself in a difficult situation.

Political technologist Mikhail Sheitelman told "Channel 24" that the non-renewal of the treaty is great news for Ukraine. After all, Russia now finds itself in a difficult position.

Why was it favorable to Putin to keep this treaty in force?

Putin said at a press conference back in September 2025 that Russia was ready to extend the treaty. At the same time, the United States did not actually respond in any way. According to Sheitelman, it is important to Putin that the treaty remain in force.

Russia has the largest number of nuclear warheads as of 2026. Given its partnership with China, they will have a significant concentration of such weapons. Accordingly, the U.S. may be interested in increasing the number of nuclear weapons so that there is parity here.

- For Russia, this is a disaster. They are losing the only trump card they had - the largest fleet of nuclear warheads. In fact, this is their only advantage. At the same time, technologically the US and China can build up warheads. Russia has neither the money, technology, nor engineers to do so. So it's good that this happened," Sheitelman said.

Note that the treaty was signed in 2010 between Russia and the United States. It regulates the number of strategic nuclear arsenals of both countries. In particular, it was about limits on the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles.