What is Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty? Russia waits for US nod to extend the last remaining nuclear weapon treaty

Kremlin spokesperson on Thursday said that it has not yet received a response from the US about the proposal to renew the last existing nuclear treaty between the two nations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the expiry of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) will create a gap in the framework between the two nations for the regulation of nuclear arms. The treaty is set to expire on February 5.

What is the START?

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed in 2010 between then-US President Barack Obama and the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which limits the deployment of strategic nuclear warheads to 1550 and launchers to 700 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles, bombers, and 800 deployed, non-deployed launchers. The treaty allowed for on-site inspection by officials and data exchange to ensure compliance.

Why is it important ?

Russia and the US are the two largest nuclear powers in the world, which are engaged in persistent conflict. Over the years, these two nations have signed several arms control treaties to put an end to the Cold War rivalry of the arms race. Eventhough these treaties are non-binding in nature, it allows a framework to regulate the further expansion of the already existing nuclear arsenal. The treaty was already suspended in 2023 by Russia, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The US warned that Russia is threatening stability, and Russia said that the US wants its strategic defeat by expanding NATO to Ukraine, and that the "theatre of the absurd”, the idea of existentialism, is important to Russia. Now it is set to expire next month; it is the last remaining treaty between the two nations. With the US ambition for a Golden Dome, the world is edging towards another volatile period of nuclear arms race, which is reminiscent of the Cold War.