But even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, the treaty fell victim to a deterioration in relations between the United States and Russia. Negotiations for the renewal of the treaty were initially at an impasse during the entire presidency of Donald Trump, who wanted to see China, another major nuclear power, included in the restrictions of the arsenals. Moscow and the new Biden administration had finally reached an agreement in extremis in January 2021 to extend it for five years, until February 5, 2026, in a climate of heightened mutual mistrust.
On August 9, 2022, Russia announced that it was suspending planned American inspections of its military sites under the treaty, claiming to act in response to American obstacles to Russian inspections in the United States. While the tone had fallen a little on the threats of a nuclear strike from Russia in its war against Ukraine, a meeting had been scheduled for November 29 to December 6, 2022 in Cairo to discuss a possible resumption of inspections.