In mid-March, two US researchers put forward a proposal for a new nuclear disarmament treaty, ‘All START’, in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. This would include all five nuclear weapon states recognised in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Britain, China and France as well as Russia and the US.
Another new move would be to make the treaty ‘of unlimited duration’ instead of time-limited.
Russia announced in February that it would be suspending its participation in New START, the one remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the US. New START, which limits the number of strategic nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, is due to run out in 2026 anyway.
The US had earlier dismantled the rest of the arms control system by withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (in 2002) and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (in 2019) – as well as the Open Skies (aerial surveillance) Treaty (in 2020).