Nine countries in the world have nuclear weapons. Of these, more than 80 percent of the nuclear weapons are stockpiled by the United States and Russia.
What you should know
The New START Treaty, a nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, expired on Thursday.
The treaty was last renewed for 5 years in 2021. The treaty states that no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads can be deployed. Similarly, no more than 700 long-range missiles and bombers can be deployed. No more than 800 intercontinental ballistic missiles can be deployed. Both sides will be allowed to visit each other's nuclear weapons facilities annually to monitor whether the treaty is being implemented. But now, with the end of the treaty, all these provisions have ended. The treaty was signed in 2010 by then US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The treaty came into effect in 2011. The treaty was renewed for another 5 years in 2021 after 10 years. In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden signed a renewed treaty. The treaty was a revision of previous Russian-US treaties on nuclear arms control. In 1991, at the end of the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union signed the START One treaty to limit the deployment of strategic warheads. The treaty remained in force until 2009. During the same period, START Two was also signed in 1993. The treaty aimed to further reduce the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed and eliminate multiple-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, despite being signed, the treaty never came into force. Russia formally announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2002. Another treaty was signed from 2003 to 2011. Which is called ‘SART’ (Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty). Both sides agreed to eliminate operational strategic warheads.
But the mechanism for checking whether the treaty was implemented was very weak. The START One mechanism itself had to check it. That is why ‘New START’, which was signed in 2009 and came into effect in 2011, replaced all of them. In 2021, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed and renewed the treaty for another five years.
Why is the agreement important?
Nuclear weapons are designed to strike the political, military and industrial centers of rival countries. The US, Russia, France, China, Britain, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea It is a signatory to the United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Although it is not a signatory to this treaty, Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons.
Russia and the United States hold more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, according to a 2025 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The report states that the combined warheads of the two countries would exceed 10,500. It had agreed to keep only 1,550 of those nuclear weapons on 'standby' status. Once the treaty expires, both countries will be able to keep their nuclear weapons on standby without any limits. This treaty gave both countries the right to monitor each other's nuclear facilities. Now, such monitoring will no longer be possible.
However, the last time the monitoring work was suspended was in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement was then renewed in 2021, but neither country has allowed the other to inspect its nuclear facilities. Relations with the US have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Moscow's participation in the New START treaty. He said he had to do so because the US had supported Ukraine in the war. The suspension meant that Russia would remain a signatory to the treaty, but would not participate in monitoring and data sharing.
According to the US State Department, before Moscow announced the suspension of New START in 2023, both sides had inspected nuclear facilities a total of 328 times. Similarly, both sides had informed the other about their activities about 25,000 times.
According to the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Moscow has a total of 5,459 nuclear weapons. warheads. Of those, about 1,600 are deployed. Similarly, the United States has a total of 5,550 nuclear warheads. Of those, only about 3,800 are active. Of those, about 1,700 are deployed.
The United States had more than 31,000 warheads in stock in 1967, at the height of the Cold War.
US President Donald Trump has said that an even better treaty will be made. In January, he told the New York Times, “The treaty will end. We will do better than this.” He also said that China should be included in future nuclear negotiations.
China has about 600 warheads in its nuclear arsenal. But after 2023, China will have the most nuclear warheads. It has already prepared more than 100 new warheads during this period.
‘We are talking about limiting nuclear weapons . We should include China in this,’ Trump said last August.
Former Russian President Medvedev warned that the end of the treaty would create a situation where two superpowers would have unlimited nuclear weapons for the first time since the 1970s. ‘This is not a catastrophe and a nuclear war. But everyone should be alert to this,’ he said in an interview on Monday.
UN expresses concern
UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres has urged the US and Russia to sign a new nuclear arms control treaty immediately . He said that the current treaty has led to a serious situation in international peace and security.
"For the first time in more than half a century, we are facing a world where two nuclear-armed states have no binding restraint on their strategic nuclear arsenals," he said in a statement.
Catholic Pope Leo XIV said everyone must do their part to prevent a new arms race.
Nikolai Sokov, a former Soviet and Russian mediator who has been active in nuclear arms control for the past 45 years, warned of the danger of a renewed arms race within a few years. "Not only will the number of warheads increase. Countries may also be drawn to developing more powerful and accurate weapons that are difficult to destroy," he told NBC News.
Thomas Countryman, former US undersecretary for international security and arms control, said the lack of restraint on nuclear weapons in times of crisis "When the conflict escalates, it can take unexpected or dangerous forms, and people can lead to nuclear conflict," he said.
