Russia says ending nuclear weapons deal with US would be ‘very bad’ for global security

Putin ‘exudes confidence’ when he talks about the war in Ukraine GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/EPA via BBC Russia said on Tuesday (3) that the end of the New START Treaty, to control nuclear weapons with the United States, would be “very bad” for global security. At the same time, the Russian government said it was ready for a “new world” with no limits on nuclear weapons. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp New START is a treaty that establishes limits on the two largest nuclear powers, Russia and the USA, which have more than five thousand nuclear warheads each. The treaty, however, will expire on Thursday. “If the limits established by the New START Treaty are not extended, the world could find itself, within a few days, in a more dangerous situation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Peskov confirmed again this Tuesday that the White House did not respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to informally extend some New START commitments for another year. At the same time, according to the Russian agency RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that Russia is ready for a new world without limits on nuclear weapons and that the Russian nuclear triad — of nuclear weapons that can be launched by land, air and underwater — is at an advanced degree of modernization. Even so, according to Ryabkov, Russia will not fall for what he called “provocations” to enter a nuclear arms race. What is the New START treaty? Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched in a nuclear war exercise in Plesetsk, in 2022 Russian Ministry of Defense/AP Photo The treaty sets limits on the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can keep in their arsenals or deployed on missiles and active military weapons. New START is the last arms control treaty in force between the world’s two largest nuclear powers and is scheduled to expire on February 5, 2026. (Read more about the treaty below) Signed in 2010 by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the New START treaty limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy on missiles or military weapons. The agreement came into force in 2011 and was extended in 2021 for another five years after Joe Biden took office. The agreement allows US and Russian inspectors access to weapons to ensure both sides are complying with the treaty. Under the deal, Moscow and Washington commit to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 long-range missiles and bombers. Each side can carry out up to 18 inspections of strategic nuclear weapons sites each year to ensure the other has not violated treaty limits. However, inspections under the agreement were suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Negotiations between Moscow and Washington on resuming inspections were supposed to take place in November 2022 in Egypt, but Russia postponed them and neither side set a new date.

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