US to abide by key nuclear arms control treaty

Signed by Washington and Moscow in 2011, the New START is the last agreement of its kind and is set to expire in February 2026

The US will observe the “central limits” imposed on its nuclear arsenal by the New START Treaty as long as Russia does so as well, a recent Pentagon report has indicated. The document also points to the need for Washington to be able to simultaneously deter several adversaries.

The US and Russia hold the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, with around 5,000 and 5,500 warheads, respectively. Signed in 2011, the New START Treaty is the last agreement of its kind still in force, and is set to expire in February 2026.

On Thursday, the US Department of Defense sent its 491 Report – which describes America’s nuclear weapons employment strategy – to Congress. The document, which is largely based on President Joe Biden’s nuclear employment guidance issued earlier this year, characterizes Russia as an “acute threat with its large, modern, and diversified nuclear arsenal.” China and North Korea have also been rapidly expanding and diversifying their arsenals, it noted.

The report claims that there is “growing collaboration and collusion between” Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran – which requires Washington to be prepared to deter “multiple adversaries simultaneously.”

The report also acknowledges the key role that arms control still plays in preserving strategic security.

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“The United States will abide by the central limits of the New START Treaty for the duration of the Treaty as long as it assesses that Russia continues to do so,” the document says. It notes, however, that any future “arrangements with Russia, for example, will need to account for U.S. deterrence requirements and other strategic threats globally.”

Last month, the US signaled its readiness to engage in nuclear talks with Russia without any preconditions. However, Moscow dismissed this as a pre-election ruse, insisting that the issue be addressed in the broader context of the overall security landscape.

In September, President Vladimir Putin proposed updating Russia’s nuclear doctrine to consider “aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state,” as warranting a nuclear response.

Last February, Putin announced the suspension of Moscow’s participation in the New START Treaty. He cited intelligence suggesting that the US is developing new types of nuclear warheads, as well as Washington’s stated goal of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia in the Ukraine conflict.

In early October, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that any potential arms control agreements between Russia and the US would need to include nuclear infrastructure in Europe and other elements of strategic security. “We think that insisting on conducting such negotiations while pretending that nothing happened would at the very least be imprudent,” Peskov said.