START 2 talks extended

 
Start I, signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush Senior in the final days of the Soviet Union, expired on December 5th.
 
Unspecified problems have led to a delay in signing a successor treaty - START 2 - and so both side have continued to observe the old treaty by mutual agreement.
 
High level, and ongoing alks in Geneva appear not to have failed, but are merely being extended with both sides confident of a final agreement being reached soon. Under a joint understanding signed in July, deployed nuclear warheads should be cut to below 1,700 on each side within seven years of a new treaty - a huge cut on Soviet-era levels.
 
The above chart shows how Russia continues to have disproportionate numbers of obsolete warheads in service.