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China and Russia: Beyond 2024
Is a troubling new axis aligning against Western powers?
“Russia suspends participation in New START,” tolled The Insider ominously on February 21, 2023.
“The Russian Ministry of Defense and Rosatom must ensure that preparations are made for the testing of Russian nuclear weapons,” the Kremlin had announced. “Of course, we will not be the first to do so. But if the U.S. conducts a test, we will conduct one as well.”
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is a nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia that was signed in 2010. The treaty limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems that each country can possess.
Under the terms of the treaty, each country is limited to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads, as well as a maximum of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear weapons. The treaty also includes provisions for on-site inspections and data exchanges to verify compliance.
At its signing, the New START treaty was seen as an important step in reducing the risk of nuclear war between the United States and Russia. The agreement was also seen as a significant achievement in the effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons…