The decades-long effort to halt and reverse an arms race involving the world’s deadliest weapons may soon number among the casualties of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of independent, non-nuclear Ukraine and his increasingly reckless nuclear threats.
The Russian move marks the end of an era for the conventional arms control architecture in Europe that was painstakingly built over decades.
A newly established scientific advisory group for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) met for the first time in March and elected Zia Mian and Patricia Lewis as co-chairs.
The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has changed the global debate on the advisability, legality, and morality of the continued possession and modernization of nuclear weapons for the better.
In its first decade, the Arms Trade Treaty has established itself but new memberships have slowed and the illicit arms market continues to flourish.
Russia terminates New START data exchanges with the United States. Facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to be completed by July, according to Russia. U.S. lawmakers want more nuclear weapons to counter China.
Russia’s decision to unilaterally suspend the 2010 treaty has dealt another blow to the only pact still restricting U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arsenals.
While the two sides must still work out the details that will determine the extent of the agreement’s benefits, any increase in transparency is a positive step that bodes well for international efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear program.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has inflicted much suffering, amplified international divisions, and made any attempt to build common security extremely difficult. Moscow’s war on Ukraine also hobbled several arms control and security agreements—including, now, the Vienna Document.