The United Nations has sounded the alarm after the New START treaty, the final nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia, officially expired. UN secretary general António Guterres described the moment as "grave," warning that for the first time in more than 50 years there are no binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of the two countries that together hold more than 80% of the world's nuclear warheads.
Guterres stressed that the collapse of New START comes at the worst possible time, with global instability rising and nuclear risk at its highest level in decades. The treaty, signed in 2010, capped deployed strategic warheads at 1,550 per side and played a key role in reducing Cold War-era stockpiles. Its expiration, he warned, could accelerate a new arms race and undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which relies on nuclear powers demonstrating good-faith efforts toward disarmament.
Both Washington and Moscow have acknowledged the treaty's end, with Russia saying it no longer considers itself bound by its limits while claiming it will act "responsibly." The United States has left the door open to a new framework, though officials argue any future deal should include China, whose nuclear arsenal is rapidly expanding. Now, the disappearance of New START leaves the world without a cornerstone of nuclear restraint, and with far fewer safeguards against escalation...