The nuclear arms race will start once again between America and Russia, know what will be the result

Washington/Moscow: America and Russia have 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. In 2010, the then US President Barack Obama and the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a treaty called the New START Treaty. START stands for New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Under this treaty, it was determined how many nuclear weapons the US and Russia could make so that the number remains under control. It also decided how many missiles would be in a ready state. This treaty is going to end in 2026. Let us know what that treaty is, whether it will continue or end, and what will be its outcome?

What was decided in the treaty?

Under this treaty, Russia and America can keep a maximum of 1550 nuclear missiles, 700 long range missiles and bombers in a ready state. Both countries can visit each other’s nuclear sites to find out if anyone is violating the rules of the treaty. There can be 18 such visits in a year. The treaty signed in 2011 was extended for another 5 years in 2021. Now this treaty is valid till February 2026. But, looking at the current stance of Russia and America, it does not seem that the treaty will move forward. Especially, Russia does not want this. If this happens, there is a possibility of a nuclear arms race in the world once again.

What is the problem?

Under the treaty, both America and Russia have to share information about nuclear weapons with each other and are also allowed to visit nuclear sites. But, due to the Covid epidemic in March 2020, nuclear site visits between the two countries stopped. A meeting was scheduled between the US and Russia in Egypt in November 2022 to resume the site visits. But Russia postponed this meeting and since then Russia has been constantly procrastinating.

What is the current situation?

After the war with Ukraine, Russia feels that it needs to increase its consignment of weapons. The New START Treaty is hindering this. On the other hand, America is openly with Ukraine in this war and is also giving it weapons. Therefore, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his separation from this treaty in February 2023 itself. However, after this statement of Putin, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that according to the treaty, Russia will continue to follow the restrictions on the number of nuclear missiles and weapons ready for war.

How strong is this treaty?

America’s trust in Russia is also decreasing. Now it is not able to visit Russia’s nuclear site, so it is also not able to get information about the current situation. In some reports, US officials admitted that Russia may be engaged in preparing new weapons. At the same time, US officials are also preparing that if the treaty does not go ahead, they should be in a position to prepare new weapons immediately and keep the pressure on Russia. The US says that Russia has made some satellite-destroying nuclear weapons, which it is going to deploy in orbit. On the other hand, Russia has openly warned of ending this treaty. In such a situation, this treaty has weakened before time and defense experts say that both the countries are secretly preparing against each other.

Is this a strategy to put pressure on America?

According to what John Eroth, senior policy director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said in an interview to the Washington Post, Russia’s announcement to separate itself from the treaty could also be a strategy to put pressure on America. US President Joe Biden has been seen standing with Ukraine against Russia. Putin wants to show Biden what he can do. In an interview with the British newspaper Guardian, Andrey Baklitsky, a senior researcher at the Center of Arms Control and Strategic Weapons Program of the Institute for Disarmament Research at the UN, also points to this. He says that Russia may further withdraw from the treaty. It is certain that it will adopt a tough attitude towards America.

So is the world on the verge of nuclear war?

Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons several times during the war with Ukraine. Meanwhile, China is also increasing its weapons. On the other hand, North Korea has intensified tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) to carry its nuclear weapons. Recently, North Korea has signed a defense treaty with Russia. North Korea has given artillery shells to Russia. America is unable to guess what Russia is giving it in return? America fears that it could be missiles and other weapon technology. Similar concerns are also about Iran, which has given drones and missiles to Russia. Iran had recently warned Israel, which is friendly with America. Now in such an environment, if the treaty between Russia and America ends, then the world will definitely see a big arms race, the result of which is uncertain.

How many nuclear weapons are there in the world?

Right now Russia, America, China, France, UK, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are nuclear-rich countries in the world. The arms race of the Cold War was at its peak in 1986, when the Soviet Union had collected 40 thousand and America had collected more than 23 thousand nuclear weapons. But now its number has decreased. According to a report, there are about 13 thousand nuclear weapons in the world right now. India has 160 nuclear weapons.