US, Russia Seek New Arms Discussions as The Last Nuclear Agreement Expires

Following negotiations this week in the United Arab Emirates, Russian and US negotiators agreed on the importance of resuming nuclear weapons control talks immediately. The negotiations take place as the New START deal, the last surviving nuclear arms treaty between the two countries, expires, marking the end of more than 50 years of constraints on the world’s two greatest nuclear arsenals.

With the treaty’s expiration, there are no more restrictions on US or Russian nuclear weapons or delivery systems. The agreement restricted each side to 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 missiles and bombers.

Russia has stated that it is willing to continue obeying those restrictions temporarily, but the US has pushed for a new framework that includes China, which has a smaller but quickly increasing nuclear arsenal. Beijing has refused to take part in such negotiations.

US officials argue China’s nuclear expansion and lack of openness render a bilateral agreement untenable, and they accuse Beijing of covert nuclear tests. China denies the charges and refuses to engage arms control talks while its arsenal remains significantly less than that of the United States and Russia.

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