New START expiry a ‘Grave Moment’ for global security, warns UN Chief

New Delhi, Feb 6: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the expiration of the New Strategic Arms-Reduction Treaty (New START) marked a dangerous turning point for international peace and security, urging the United States and the Russian Federation to urgently resume nuclear arms-control negotiations. In a statement issued as the treaty lapsed at midnight, Guterres said the world is, for the first time in over 50 years, without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of Washington and Moscow, which together possess the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Calling the development a “grave moment”, the Secretary-General recalled that decades of nuclear arms control, from the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks to New START, helped prevent catastrophe during and after the Cold War, built strategic stability, and reduced the risk of devastating miscalculation. These agreements, he noted, also led to the elimination of thousands of nuclear weapons, improving global security, particularly for the populations of the two nuclear superpowers.

Guterres warned that the collapse of these long-standing frameworks comes at a time when the risk of nuclear weapon use is the highest in decades. However, he said the moment should also be seen as an opportunity to reset and design a new arms-control regime suited to today’s rapidly evolving global security environment.

Welcoming recent statements by the Presidents of both the United States and Russia acknowledging the dangers of a renewed nuclear arms race, the UN chief said the international community now expects those words to be backed by concrete action. He urged both countries to return to the negotiating table without delay and agree on a successor framework that reinstates verifiable limits on nuclear arsenals, reduces risks, and strengthens global security.