Pope Calls For Prayers For Ukraine, Renewed Commitment To Nuclear Disarmament.

Vatican City; February 2026: Pope Leo XIV today has renewed his appeal for prayer and solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who continue to suffer the consequences of the conflict, and highlighted the need to renew the “New START treaty” against nuclear proliferation that is due to expire.

Speaking during the General Audience, the Pope said, “I urge everyone to support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine with prayer, as they are being severely tested by the consequences of bombardments that have once again begun to strike energy infrastructure as well”. He went on to express his gratitude for concrete gestures of solidarity, and thanked the Catholic dioceses of Poland and other countries “which are working to help the population endure during this time of intense cold.”

The Pope then turned his attention to international security, recalling the “New START Treaty”, signed in 2010 by the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation, which he said is due to expire on Thursday. While, highlighting that the agreement represents an important step in limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Pope Leo reaffirmed his encouragement for all constructive efforts in support of disarmament and mutual trust.

“I issue an urgent appeal that this instrument not be allowed to lapse without seeking to ensure a concrete and effective follow-up”, he said. The current situation, he continued, “demands that everything possible be done to avert a new arms race that would further threaten peace among nations”.

The Pope stressed the urgency of moving beyond a logic rooted in fear and mistrust. In its place, he called for a shared ethic capable of guiding decisions toward the common good, “so that peace may become a responsibility and a heritage safeguarded by all”.

The Pope’s appeal to limit nuclear proliferation comes as experts express concern that the end of New START could lead towards a dangerous and costly arms race between the world’s biggest nuclear powers.

New START, (the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which was initially agreed upon in 2010 and extended for five years in 2021, limited US and Russian deployed strategic nuclear weapon arsenals. The treaty defines strategic nuclear weapons systems as those that are “intercontinental in range”.

The Treaty limited the number of strategic nuclear weapons for the United States and Russia. It also required regular short-notice, on-site inspections and biannual data exchange between the two countries.

New START Treaty –

The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as the New START Treaty, enhances US national security by placing verifiable limits on all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons.

The United States and the Russian Federation have agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.

Strategic Offensive Limits: The New START Treaty entered into force on February 5, 2011.  Under the treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation had seven years to meet the treaty’s central limits on strategic offensive arms (by February 5, 2018) and are then obligated to maintain those limits for as long as the treaty remains in force.

Aggregate Limits: Both the United States and the Russian Federation met the central limits of the New START Treaty by February 5, 2018, and have stayed at or below them ever since. Those limits are:

• 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments;

• 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments (each such heavy bomber is counted as one warhead toward this limit);

• 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.

New START limits all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons, including every Russian nuclear warhead that is loaded onto an intercontinental-range ballistic missile that can reach the United States in approximately 30 minutes. It also limits the deployed Avangard and the under development Sarmat, the two most operationally available of the Russian Federation’s new long-range nuclear weapons that can reach the United States. Extending New START ensures we will have verifiable limits on the mainstay of Russian nuclear weapons that can reach the U.S. homeland for the next five years. As of the most recent data exchange on September 1, 2020, the Russian Federation declared 1,447 deployed strategic warheads. The Russian Federation has the capacity to deploy many more than 1,550 warheads on its modernized ICBMs and SLBMs, as well as heavy bombers, but is constrained from doing so by New START.

Force Structure: Each Party has the flexibility to determine for itself the structure of its forces subject to the central limits. The New START Treaty gives the United States the flexibility to deploy and maintain U.S. strategic nuclear forces in a way that best serves U.S. national security interests.

Verification and Transparency: The treaty contains detailed procedures for the implementation and verification of the central limits on strategic offensive arms and all treaty obligations. These procedures govern the conversion and elimination of strategic offensive arms, the establishment and operation of a database of treaty-required information, transparency measures, a commitment not to interfere with national technical means of verification, the exchange of telemetric information, the conduct of on-site inspection activities, and the operation of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC).

Team Maverick.