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.



The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by U.S. President Barack Obama and Medvedev, who served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 on each side.



It is due to expire on February 5 and Russian officials have said they have had no official response from Washington on a proposal from President Vladimir Putin to stick to existing missile and warhead limits for one more year.



"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 said in an interview at his residence outside Moscow.



"The (doomsday) clocks are ticking and they obviously have to speed up," he said.