GENEVA — The United States called for three-way talks with Russia and China to set new limits on nuclear weapons after the New START treaty expired, erasing the last binding cap on U.S.-Russian strategic arsenals and reviving fears of a new arms race.
Thomas DiNanno, the under secretary of state for arms control, told the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the now-lapsed pact had “fundamental flaws,” citing what he called serial Russian violations, the growth of global stockpiles and weaknesses in the treaty’s design and implementation.
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“Serial Russian violations, growth of more worldwide stockpiles and flaws in New START’s design and implementation gives the United States a clear imperative to call for a new architecture that addresses the threats of today, not those of a bygone era,” he said. “As we sit here today, China’s entire nuclear arsenal has no limits, no transparency, no declarations, had no controls.”
New START had restricted the United States and Russia to deploying 1,550 nuclear warheads each. Its expiration marks the first time in decades that the world is without a treaty constraining the deployment of the planet’s most destructive weapons, a gap advocates and former officials warn could propel unconstrained competition.
U.S. President Donald Trump did not accept a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep New START’s restrictions in place for another year and has called for a “new, improved and modernized treaty.” DiNanno argued the expired pact did not allow Washington to credibly maintain its strategic deterrent at home and extended deterrence commitments to allies.
“New START does not allow the United States to credibly uphold both our strategic deterrence commitments to the American people and our extended deterrence commitments to our allies,” he said. “We aim to improve upon New START in order to achieve a new, better strategic stability and arms control architecture that makes the world safer and more secure.”
China, however, has publicly rejected joining disarmament negotiations on the grounds that its arsenal remains far smaller than those of Washington or Moscow, even as it grows. China’s ambassador, Shen Jian, reiterated that position in Geneva, saying “China’s nuclear capabilities are nowhere near the level of those of the U.S. or Russia,” and adding: “China would not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage.”
Russia has signaled it is open to fresh talks, but only if other nuclear-armed states are included. Moscow’s ambassador, Gennady Gatilov, said any new format should bring in Britain and France, both NATO allies. Russia, he said, “would be involved in such a process if the United Kingdom and France are also involved, who are military allies of the United States in NATO, which has declared itself a nuclear alliance.”
Arms control campaigners and a group of former senior officials urged nuclear powers to use the moment to return to the table, calling on Washington and Moscow to keep observing New START limits as a first step. Allowing the agreement to lapse, they warned, “will reduce nuclear stability and predictability, threaten global security, and increase the risk of a new era of unconstrained nuclear competition.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the situation “a grave moment,” saying decades of security-building treaties were at risk at a time when “the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades,” including amid Russian suggestions of using tactical nuclear weapons early in the Ukraine war.
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, urged “restraint and responsibility” and said the alliance “will continue to take steps necessary” to ensure its defense. The official condemned “Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
