Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the US and Russia to reach an agreement to limit arsenals
The expiration of the New START nuclear reduction treaty between Russia and the US is “a grave moment for international peace and security,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.
The strategic arms control treaty officially expired on February 5, and Moscow has not received any formal response from the US about renewing it, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
For the first time in over 50 years, the two largest nuclear powers have no limits on their arsenals, the statement by Guterres read. Fewer safeguards now exist against a “devastating miscalculation” compared to the Cold War and its aftermath.
“This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time – the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades,” Guterres warned. He urged Washington and Moscow to negotiate a successor framework.
New START was signed in 2011 and was last extended in 2021. However, the Ukraine conflict precipitated a deterioration. Russia blamed the Western backers of Kiev – including the administration of then-US President Joe Biden – for targeting its nuclear deterrence assets via proxy and suspending verification inspections.
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