What ending nuclear arms limits could mean for global security? Expert explains
Photo: Expert explains the consequences of terminating the nuclear arms reduction treaty (Getty Images)
The termination of the nuclear weapons treaty (known as START III) means that each of the signatory states will now be able to build up its nuclear arsenal, and its opponents will not know all the details, according to the RBC-Ukraine article World without limits: How Trump and Putin open nuclear arsenals of US and Russia.
Read also: 50-year era of nuclear control is ending — FT explains what happens next
According to Polina Sinovets, head of the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation, the absence of a treaty creates a situation of uncertainty, where neither side has complete information about the real capabilities of its opponent.
“Potentially, this creates opacity. And it always gives rise to figments of the imagination: it seems that the adversary has already built something like that and may already be preparing for a first strike. And if so, then it would be better for us to also build up and strike first,” the expert said in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.
She noted that in military analysis, this situation is known as crisis instability, when fear of a first strike forces states to act faster, more harshly, and more riskily, even in the absence of a real intention to start a war.
Nuclear treaty between the US and Russia expires
Today, February 5, the START III Treaty, the last agreement limiting the strategic nuclear arsenals of the US and Russia, officially expires. For the first time since 1969, there will be no formal restrictions on nuclear weapons in the world.
As the Financial Times notes, the termination of this treaty puts an end to more than 50 years of agreements between Moscow and Washington on nuclear arms control, from the Cold War era to the post-Soviet period.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has already stated that Moscow no longer considers itself bound by any restrictions on its nuclear arsenal after the termination of the START III treaty.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that the US is negotiating with Russia on limiting the number of nuclear weapons and wants to involve China in the dialogue.
Trump also ordered the US to resume nuclear weapons testing.
