U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (February 5, 2026) known as for a model new nuclear treaty after the final settlement with Russia expired, prompting fears of a brand new international arms race.
The Trump administration has repeatedly pressed for a brand new treaty to incorporate China, whose arsenal is rising however nonetheless considerably smaller than these of Russia and the USA, however Beijing has publicly rejected the stress.
Mr. Trump had been principally mum on Russian calls to increase New START, the 2010 treaty that imposed the final restrictions on the 2 largest nuclear powers after a long time of agreements courting from the Chilly Battle.
However hours after it expired, Mr. Trump stated that the treaty, signed by predecessor Barack Obama and prolonged by Joe Biden, was “badly negotiated” and “is being grossly violated.”
“We should always have our Nuclear Specialists work on a brand new, improved, and modernized Treaty that may final lengthy into the longer term,” he wrote on his Reality Social platform.
Requested if Washington and Moscow had agreed to stay to the phrases of the expired START treaty whereas negotiations on a brand new accord are ongoing, White Home spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated: “To not my data.”
Russia had refused inspections below New START as relations deteriorated with the Biden administration.
It stated on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) that it now not thought-about itself certain on the variety of nuclear warheads because of the expiration of New START.
Regardless of the stalemate on New START, Mr. Trump has enthusiastically restarted diplomacy with Russia and invited President Vladimir Putin to Alaska final August.
The US introduced on Thursday (February 5, 2026) that it was resuming navy dialogue with Russia after three-way talks in Abu Dhabi on the Ukraine warfare.
‘Unconstrained nuclear competitors’
Campaigners have warned that the top of the New START treaty may set off a world arms race, and urged nuclear powers to enter negotiations.
A bunch of former senior arms management officers from world wide, in a joint assertion on Thursday (February 5, 2026), known as on the USA and Russia to comply with maintain observing New START’s limits as a primary step.
The top of New START “will cut back nuclear stability and predictability, threaten international safety, and improve the chance of a brand new period of unconstrained nuclear competitors,” they wrote.
U.N. Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres stated the nuclear treaties between the USA and Russia after greater than half a century had been at a “grave second.”
“This dissolution of a long time of feat couldn’t come at a worse time— the chance of a nuclear weapon getting used is the best in a long time,” Mr. Guterres stated, after Russian recommendations of utilizing tactical nuclear weapons early within the Ukraine warfare.
A NATO official, talking on situation of anonymity, known as for “restraint and accountability” and stated that the U.S.-led navy alliance “will proceed to take steps crucial” to make sure its protection.
The official condemned “Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.”
China rejects stress
On Wednesday (February 4, 2026), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that arms management was “unattainable” with out together with China.
China’s Overseas Ministry expressed remorse on Thursday (February 5, 2026) over New START’s demise however stated Beijing “won’t take part in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage.”
“China’s nuclear capabilities are of a completely totally different scale as these of the USA and Russia,” Overseas Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian advised a information convention.
Russia and the USA collectively management greater than 80 % of the world’s nuclear warheads.
China’s nuclear arsenal is rising quicker than any nation’s, by about 100 new warheads a yr since 2023, in accordance with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute.
China is estimated to have at the very least 600 nuclear warheads, the institute says, nicely under the 800 every at which Russia and the USA had been capped below New START.
France and Britain, treaty-bound U.S. allies, collectively have one other 100.
Daryl Kimball, government director of the Arms Management Affiliation, which warns of nuclear dangers, agreed that China ought to have interaction.
However “there isn’t any indication that Mr. Trump or his workforce have taken the time to suggest danger discount or arms management talks with China since returning to workplace in 2025,” Mr. Kimball stated.
Printed – February 06, 2026 06:48 am IST
