Exclusive: Ex-UK Diplomat Cormac Smith Decodes US-Russia Nuclear Arms Race
The treaty, signed in 2010 by then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama, limited each side's nuclear arsenal to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, a reduction of nearly 30 percent from the previous limit set in 2002. It also allowed both sides to carry out on-site inspections of the other's nuclear arsenal, although these were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and have not resumed since. Russia froze its participation in the agreement in 2023, but said it was continuing to voluntarily adhere to the warhead limits.
