United Nations warns of nuclear risk as New START treaty expires

THE expiration of the New START Treaty marks a perilous moment for global security, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday, calling on the United States and Russia to urgently negotiate a new framework to govern their nuclear arsenals.

Reuters cited on Thursday that New START, which officially lapsed at midnight on Wednesday, had limited the number of strategic nuclear warheads both nations could deploy, as well as the land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers designed to deliver them.

Its expiration leaves no binding restrictions on the two countries that collectively hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons.

“For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of the Russian Federation and the United States of America – the two States that possess the overwhelming majority of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons,” Guterres said.

He described the moment as the dissolution of decades of progress in arms control, “which could not come at a worse time – the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades.”

Despite the heightened danger, Guterres stressed that the lapse also presents an opportunity to “reset and create an arms control regime fit for a rapidly evolving context.”

He welcomed the acknowledgement by the leadership of both Moscow and Washington of the need to prevent a return to unchecked nuclear proliferation.

“The world now looks to the Russian Federation and the United States to translate words into action,” Guterres said.

“I urge both states to return to the negotiating table without delay and to agree upon a successor framework that restores verifiable limits, reduces risks, and strengthens our common security.”

The UN chief’s statement underscores growing international concern over the erosion of structured arms control and the urgent necessity for renewed dialogue to stabilise nuclear deterrence in a volatile geopolitical environment. - February 5, 2026