<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a matter of hours, the final nuclear treaty still in force between the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="_blank" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia" rel="" target="_blank" title="Russia"><span>Russia</span></a><span> is set to expire, and there are grave fears about what comes next.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The New START Treaty, signed in 2010 by then-US president Barack Obama and then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, imposed limitations on how many nuclear warheads each country could have deployed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Observers have warned its abandonment could signal a new era of nuclear proliferation, even as other nations such as China seek to increase their own arsenal of the devastating weapons.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/measles-circulating-undetected-in-adelaide-sa-health-warns/1d12adaa-415c-49df-9f41-2d630a67332b" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Measles circulating undetected in Aussie city after new case detected</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The treaty was set to expire in 2021, but was extended for five years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The clock will run out on Thursday, February 5, northern hemisphere time - or some time overnight in Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russian President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/vladimir-putin" rel="" target="_blank" title="Vladimir Putin"><span>Vladimir Putin</span></a><span> last year offered to agree to a one-year extension, but US President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> has so far been non-committal.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/new-start-final-nuclear-treaty-between-russia-and-usa-set-to-expire-in-hours/ed68bb96-6f73-4588-91b3-12e884b13853" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/epstein-files-photo-confirms-former-prince-andrew-and-virginia-giuffre-photo-real/020b4708-d90c-4518-abd0-bf2ce50ab2fe" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Email points to photo of former Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre being real</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US, meanwhile, is </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/iran-and-the-us-will-hold-nuclear-talks-friday-in-oman-iranian-foreign-minister-says/9c0330af-b9ee-46f3-882a-b992b30da3f1" rel="" target="_blank" title="about to sit down with Iranian representatives in Oman"><span>about to sit down with Iranian representatives in Oman</span></a><span> to discuss Tehran's nuclear program.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A White House official speaking anonymously told </span><em><span>The Associated Press</span></em><span> Trump wanted to keep limits on nuclear weapons globally, and involve China in any talks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump would make a decision on nuclear arms control "on his own timeline," the official said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/xi-jinping-and-vladimir-putin-closer-ties/824484ee-4654-4ba0-818d-4833b0614729" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>The phone call that will have the world on notice</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin discussed the pact's expiration with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but noted Washington had not responded to his proposed extension.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia would "act in a balanced and responsible manner based on thorough analysis of the security situation," Ushakov said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Arms control advocates have long voiced concerns about the expiration, warning it could lead to a new arms race, foment global instability and increase the risk of nuclear conflict.</span></div></div><div class="tweet" data-tweet-id="2019040748298178970" data-user="9NewsAUS"></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pope Leo XIV called for the treaty "not to be abandoned without seeking to ensure its concrete and effective continuation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Failure to agree on keeping the pact's limits would likely encourage a bigger deployment, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're at the point now where the two sides could, with the expiration of this treaty, for the first time in about 35 years, increase the number of nuclear weapons that are deployed on each side," Kimball told AP.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And this would open up the possibility of an unconstrained, dangerous three-way arms race, not just between the US and Russia, but also involving China, which is also increasing its smaller but still deadly nuclear arsenal."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The New START agreement limited both nations to 1550 accountable deployed strategic nuclear warheads and bombs, and counted each heavy bomber as one warhead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's about 30 per cent below the 2200-warhead limit set by the previous agreement, the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>New START also limited Russia and the US to no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers assigned to nuclear missions, apiece.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deployed and nondeployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and bombers were limited to 800.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If New START ends, the US and Russia could virtually double their deployed nuclear weapons in about six months," Dr Tillman Ruff, of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia, told 9news.com.au previously.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>With Associated Press</span></em><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&hl=en_AU&pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>
SHARE:
Leave A Reply
Your email address will not be published.*