Sources:  State Dept. Attempts Sabotage New Start Extension with Axios Leaks

Feb. 7—The last remaining arms control agreement between Russia and the United States, the New START Treaty, expired Feb. 5 after leaks coming out of the State Department and published by the British asset Axios sabotaged a plan for a simple extension.

Sources close to the White House say some carefully prepped secret discussions between Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son‑in‑law Jared Kushner with a Russian delegation during a break in the three‑way talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. in Abu Dhabi had reached an agreement on a six‑month extension — time to allow for negotiation of a new treaty. These sources report that the agreement, which also contained language offering participation in a new treaty to the Chinese, was to be taken back to President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had offered the extension earlier this year, for a formal signing.

The plan, which totally bypassed the U.S. State Department and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is hostile to both Russia and China, was offered during discussions in Florida last weekend between Witkoff and Kushner and Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

Opponents Inside State and Pentagon Push “Golden Dome” Strategy

“The idea was to keep the whole process out of the papers until the extension was signed,” said a source familiar with the negotiations, “to muffle the opposition to the treaty inside the Administration both in State and the War Department.” 

That opposition has to do with the push for what Trump has called his “Golden Dome,” an earth‑ and space‑based system to intercept strategic missile attacks on the United States, which the Russians have criticized as preparation for a U.S. first strike. It has led some people, including the International Peace Coalition (IPC), to call for a joint declaration by Putin and Trump of a doctrine of “no first use” of nuclear weapons.

While the potential effectiveness of Trump’s Golden Dome has been challenged by many experts, there is a group of strategists in both State and the War Department who say that the threat of building such a missile defense system could force the Russians to massively spend on potential countermeasures — massive spending that could bankrupt Russia and topple Putin. 

In this, they are modeling their strategy on what was done with Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, designed by both the late physical economist Lyndon LaRouche and the nuclear scientist Dr. Edward Teller, who both urged Reagan to offer the program be jointly developed with the Soviet Union. But the Soviets rejected the offer, carried to them by LaRouche when Reagan called for joint development in a world‑televised speech on March 23, 1983.

A faction inside the Reagan administration sabotaged efforts to actually build and deploy the American side of the SDI, while making public pronouncements of progress and allocating some funding. The Russians went for this bait, and as they had been told by LaRouche, rejecting Reagan’s offer and trying to counter the SDI would cause the collapse of the Soviet Union within the decade — which happened as forecast.

Will Russia Be “Suckered Again”? Debate Over Strategy Intensifies

“Will the Russians be suckered again?” a source asked. “I doubt it. The fact is, they should realize the Golden Dome, as discussed, will not work if it is based on existing physical principles, as it is proposed. A saner strategy would update and negotiate new arms limitation treaties, and not plunge headlong into a new nuclear arms race that could lead to disaster.”

In a Truth Social post after the Axios article appeared, Trump seemingly weighed in against continuing any kind of New START at all. “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernize Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump posted.

Despite Sabotage, U.S.–Russia Talks Yield Concrete Progress

Despite this, concrete progress was apparently made during U.S.–Russia negotiations in Abu Dhabi. It was officially announced Feb. 5 that the two sides would renew high‑level military‑to‑military communications. U.S. European Command issued a statement to this effect:

“Following the productive and constructive progress towards President Trump’s goal of peace in Ukraine made by Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff over the past week, the U.S. and Russian Federation agreed today in Abu Dhabi to reestablish high level military‑to‑military dialogue,” it said. “This channel of communication was suspended in the fall of 2021, just prior to the onset of the conflict. The reestablishment follows meetings in the United Arab Emirates’ capital between Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, Commander of U.S. European Command, and senior Russian and Ukrainian military officials…. General Grynkewich looks forward to initiating this high‑level dialogue.”

The statement made a point that such dialogue is vital so as “to avoid miscalculation and to provide a means for avoiding unintended escalation by either side.”

White House May Still Push Extension and Bring China In

Sources report that, even with the deliberate sabotage, the White House may decide to move forward with the six‑month extension and the attempt to bring China into the process. 

The Russians, who confirmed the content of the talks in Abu Dhabi to extend New START, have indicated that they remain open to an extension.