To the Editor:

Re “Save the New START Arms Treaty” (Op-Ed, Feb. 10):

Madeleine Albright and Igor Ivanov attribute challenges in U.S.-Russian relations to “the political climates in Washington and Moscow” and call for extension of the New START treaty. While President Trump’s foreign policy is flawed in many ways, it cannot be put on the same scale as the Kremlin’s aggressive strategy.

The writers lament “the unfortunate dissolution of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year.” The treaty was signed in 1987 after President Ronald Reagan firmly countered Soviet aggressiveness, and Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet president, turned to domestic liberalization and cooperation with America.

For a long time Washington and NATO criticized Moscow’s violation of the I.N.F. treaty. President Trump, a far cry from Mr. Reagan in other aspects, finally took countermeasures.

The decision to extend the New START treaty should be conditioned on a thorough assessment of the ongoing military buildup, especially in Russia, and be free from wishful thinking about the Kremlin’s behavior or the interests of the reality show in Washington.