Abstract

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To date, negotiated nuclear arms control and reduction agreements have been an exercise conducted almost solely between the United States and the Soviet Union, and, following the latter’s collapse in 1991, the United States and Russia. That was logical, given the size of the nuclear superpowers’ arsenals compared to those of other nuclear weapons states.

However, U.S.-Russia bilateral nuclear arms control discussions are currently at a stalemate. Differences in approach emerged after the conclusion of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). Washington sought further reductions in nuclear weapons, while Moscow focused on related issues, such as missile defense and advanced conventional strike systems. Russia’s seizure of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine in 2014 brought the overall political relationship to a post-Cold War low, and counter-charges of violations of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty are a further complica​