A cornerstone U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty is on the brink of expiring, and a former Pentagon official says President Donald Trump’s fixation on including China could doom it for no good reason. Writing about the looming February 5 expiration of New START, Kingston Reiff said the agreement significantly reduced uncertainty about Russia’s nuclear forces and strengthened U.S. deterrence planning, even without covering every weapon system or Beijing’s arsenal. Reiff argued that scrapping the treaty over China — which has long had far fewer nuclear weapons than Russia — makes little strategic sense, especially as inspections were already disrupted by COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Democrats are sounding the alarm as well, warning that allowing the treaty to lapse without a replacement would usher in a dangerous era with no limits on the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
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