UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the expiration of the New START treaty represents a “grave moment” for international peace and security, as binding limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons fall away amid heightened global tensions.
In a statement issued as the treaty expired on February 5, he said the world was entering uncharted territory, with no remaining legally binding constraints on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russia – the two countries that together hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons.
The New START treaty was adopted in 2010. It capped each side’s deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and imposed limits on delivery systems such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and heavy bombers.
The agreement also included verification measures, including data exchanges, notifications and on-site inspections, designed to reduce mistrust and prevent miscalculation.
Mr Guterres noted that “Throughout the Cold War and in its aftermath, nuclear arms control between these governments helped prevent catastrophe...For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals.”
He urged the Russian Federation and the United States to return to negotiations “without delay” and to agree on a successor framework that restores verifiable limits, reduces risks and strengthens global security.