US and Russian diplomats to hold arms control talks
US and Russian representatives will meet today in Geneva to open a new strategic stability and arms control dialogue.
A result of last month’s summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, today’s talks will commence a series of bilateral consultations concerning nuclear weapons proliferation.
The discussions follow recent withdrawals from major arms control treaties by both the US and Russia. This leaves the New START nonproliferation treaty as the last operative arms control agreement between the two states.
Expect both delegations to use today’s talks to define objectives for future consultations. As the two states have traditionally disagreed over the breadth of topics open to arms control discussions, friction over discussing missile defense systems and nonstrategic nuclear weapons is likely.
Officials from both countries have expressed interest in preserving New START’s cap on nuclear weapons, and both sides will likely preemptively re-impose such restrictions. A comprehensive US-Russia arms control treaty would require US concessions regarding its non-deployed nuclear warheads and is not expected to pass the US Senate in the medium-term. Re-ratification of older treaties, similarly, would be politically problematic. Nonetheless, both states may use joint declarations to limit nuclear stockpiles in the years ahead.
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