Russia Calls Nuclear Weapons the Only Deterrent Against Global War

The Russian government has described nuclear weapons as the ‘only’ bulwark preventing the world from sliding into a global war. The statement was made amid concerns over a new arms race involving multiple nations.

The last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States, known as New START, expired in February. Its expiration means the removal of restrictions on the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

There have been no signs from either country of renewing or replacing the treaty, although Moscow and Washington have agreed to re-establish high-level military talks.

Speaking at a foreign policy forum in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the global security system is ‘eroding’. ‘In fact, we have nothing left in the world except the nuclear deterrent. That is the only thing protecting the world from a global war,’ Peskov told the forum. ‘As technology develops, it is clear that new types of non-nuclear weapons will emerge, but they may eventually match nuclear weapons in destructive power,’ he added.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly employed nuclear rhetoric during Moscow’s four-year invasion of Ukraine. His nuclear threats have been dismissed as reckless bluffing by the US and Europe.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for a new agreement that includes China, whose nuclear arsenal is growing but remains far smaller than those of Russia or the US. Beijing has openly rejected such pressure. Russia has stated that if China is included in a new treaty, then America’s nuclear allies, such as Britain and France, must also be brought in.

The expiration of New START marks the first time in decades that no treaty is in force to limit the deployment of nuclear weapons. The pact, signed in 2010, was the last in a series of Cold War-era arms control agreements and limited Moscow and Washington to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each. Before the treaty expired, both countries repeatedly accused each other of failing to comply with it.