US, Russia Seek New Arms Talks as Last Nuclear Pact Expires

Russian and US negotiators have agreed on the need to quickly launch new talks on nuclear arms control, following discussions held this week in the United Arab Emirates. The talks come as the New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms pact between the two countries, has expired, ending more than 50 years of limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

With the treaty’s termination, there are now no caps on U.S. or Russian nuclear warheads or delivery systems. The agreement had limited each side to 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 missiles and bombers.

Russia has said it is willing to continue observing those limits temporarily, but the United States has pushed instead for a new framework that includes China, whose nuclear arsenal is smaller but rapidly expanding. Beijing has rejected joining such talks.

US officials say China’s nuclear buildup and lack of transparency make a bilateral deal insufficient, and have accused Beijing of covert nuclear testing. China denies the allegations and says it will not enter arms control negotiations while its arsenal remains far smaller than those of the U.S. and Russia.

Despite the treaty’s expiration, Washington and Moscow have agreed to reestablish military-to-military dialogue, raising cautious hopes for future negotiations to prevent an unconstrained nuclear arms race.