Russia, US discussed nuclear arms
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If nothing replaces the New START nuclear arms treaty, security analysts see a more dangerous environment with a higher risk of miscalculation.
Fading U.S. leadership has countries from Poland to South Korea thinking about nuclear-weapons programs of their own.
New START, signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, restricted each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers — deployed and ready for use. It was originally supposed to expire in 2021 but was extended for five more years.
The expiration of the last remaining nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia on Thursday has sparked fears about a nuclear arms race, with the two biggest nuclear superpowers without limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades.
Total inventories of nuclear warheads declined to about 12,000 warheads in 2025 from a peak of more than 70,000 in 1986, but the United States and Russia are upgrading their weapons and China has more than doubled its arsenal over the past decade.
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The foundations of global nuclear safety are collapsing – an arms race could follow
One of the world's last bastions of nuclear safety is set to expire tonight