The last and only remaining nuclear arms deal between the U.S. and Russia
—the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, otherwise known as New START
—is set to expire on February 5, 2026.
The deal capped the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the two nations could deploy, as well as the number of land and water vehicles used to deliver them.
Legitimate international disarmament would, of course, be a good thing.
But whether or not Putin would actually follow through on diminishing his nation’s nuclear stockpiles is unclear.
For decades, Russia has spent millions working to replace and upgrade its strategic and non-strategic nuclear systems.
As of early 2024, Russia possessed a total of 5,580 nuclear warheads,
the most of any country in the world, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
The nonprofit organization argued that the war in Ukraine had drastically depleted Russia’s “conventional forces,” pushing it to deepen its reliance on nuclear weapons for its national defense systems.
“Russia’s nuclear modernization programs
—combined with frequent explicit nuclear threats against other countries in the context of its large conventional war in Ukraine
—contribute to uncertainty about the country’s long-term intentions and have generated a growing international debate about the nature of its nuclear strategy,” read a Bulletin’s column.
The global security group further argued that the U.S.’s ballistic missile system could stand in the way of Russia’s eventual nuclear disarmament,
claiming that the missile system “constitutes a real future risk to the credibility of Russia’s retaliatory capability.”
Some of Trump’s domestic decisions prior to entering the White House were reportedly “thrilling” to Russian mouthpieces.
#Margarita #Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, mocked American politicians in December for their stupidity while claiming that some of Trump’s more unqualified choices for his cabinet
—such as one-time DOGE co-chair nominee Vivek #Ramaswamy and director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi #Gabbard
—are friendly faces that bring the Kremlin “lots of joy.”
https://newrepublic.com/post/190605/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-nuclear-weapons
