The world’s two largest nuclear superpowers no longer have limits on their arsenals.
By Alexandra Sharp, the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy.
The last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States expired on Thursday, leaving the two countries without limits on their arsenals for the first time since 1972. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that a “better agreement” is needed, one that includes emerging nuclear powerhouse China. But until then, the owners of roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads remain unchecked.
Signed in 2010, the so-called New START treaty went into force in February 2011 and was set to expire in 15 years. The agreement capped the number of nuclear warheads that each country can deploy to 1,550 and included significant mechanisms for verification and transparency.
The last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States expired on Thursday, leaving the two countries without limits on their arsenals for the first time since 1972. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that a “better agreement” is needed, one that includes emerging nuclear powerhouse China. But until then, the owners of roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads remain unchecked.
Signed in 2010, the so-called New START treaty went into force in February 2011 and was set to expire in 15 years. The agreement capped the number of nuclear warheads that each country can deploy to 1,550 and included significant mechanisms for verification and transparency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February 2023 that he was suspending his country’s participation in the treaty over Washington’s support for Ukraine, but the Russian Foreign Ministry said shortly after that Moscow would continue abiding by the agreement’s limits on the number of warheads it can deploy.
Axios reported on Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials are closing in on a deal to informally observe New START beyond its expiration but that the draft has not been finalized yet and would still need to be approved by both presidents.
Moscow is “ready for dialogue with the United States on limiting strategic offensive arms if Washington responds constructively,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, adding that Russia plans to continue practicing a “responsible and attentive approach” to strategic nuclear stability.
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Thursday, said, “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 modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”
Read more in today’s World Brief: The Death of New START.
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage of the Trump administration. Follow along here.
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