Welsh peace groups sound alarm as US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty expires

Adam Johannes

Welsh peace campaigners have warned of the dangers of a new nuclear arms race after the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired, ending more than five decades of restrictions on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as New START, was signed in 2010 to curb the build-up of nuclear weapons and reduce the risk of catastrophic war. It limited US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons and included inspections and transparency measures to prevent dangerous misunderstandings between the two powers.

The treaty built on earlier agreements dating back to the end of the Cold War. The original START treaty, signed in 1991 by the US and the Soviet Union, capped each sides nuclear warheads, marking a major step toward reducing global stockpiles.

CND Cymru, Wales’ campaign for nuclear disarmament, said: “In an era of increasing militarism and militarisation, the expiration of the arms reduction treaty New START is another chapter on the march to war we are being led on by politicians and the military-industrial complex. ”

“‘New Cold War’ rhetoric, alongside announced arms build-ups by the majority of known nuclear powers and suspected arms build-ups in North Korea and Israel mean that rhetoric may soon become reality – and it is people and the planet that will suffer”

The group noted that the last period without an arms reduction treaty, in 1980-1987, saw tensions between the US and Soviet Union escalate sharply. They urged governments to revive arms control agreements, which have historically helped cool global tensions.

Collapsed

New START became the last remaining treaty of its kind after several long-standing agreements collapsed in recent years.

These included the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which largely removed shorter-range nuclear missiles from Europe; the Open Skies Treaty, allowing unarmed reconnaissance flights over military sites in each other’s territory; and the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, which limited the number of tanks, troops, and artillery that Russia and NATO could deploy in Europe.

Between them, the US and Russia hold around 87% of the world’s nuclear weapons, making the treaty’s expiry a major global watershed.

Experts warn that without it, the final formal restraint on nuclear expansion between the two countries is gone, potentially accelerating a wider global arms race amid rising international tensions.

There are concerns the move could undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, due for review this year, under which non-nuclear states agreed not to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for disarmament commitments by nuclear powers.

CND Cymru is calling for the public to write to the UK foreign secretary to put pressure on US and Russian leaders: “In the context of imperialist wars in Ukraine, genocidal conflicts in Palestine, Sudan, Myanmar, and the DPR Congo, and resource wars around the world, it is the responsibility of everyone to call for peace.”

Cardiff Stop the War Coalition added: “The danger of nuclear war is now as grave as at any time since the Cold War. Silence and inaction only deepen the risk. The public must demand the UK government show moral and political leadership by calling for Washington and Moscow to step back from confrontation.”

The warning from Wales comes as Pope Leo also called on both countries to renew the treaty, saying leaders must “do everything possible to avert a new arms race.”

UN Secretary General António Guterres urged the US and Russia to reach a new agreement quickly, calling the situation a “grave moment for international peace and security” adding that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is “the highest in decades.”