The United States and Russia could embark on an unbridled arms race for the first time since the Cold War if they fail to reach a last-minute agreement before the expiration of the last arms control treaty, which ends in less than a week, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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The publication reminds that the New START treaty expires on February 5. Without it, there would be no limits on long-range nuclear arsenals for the first time since Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two landmark agreements in 1972 during the first ever visit of a US president to Moscow.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has proposed that both sides adhere to existing limits on missiles and warheads for another year to buy time to decide what comes next, but US President Donald Trump has not yet officially responded.
Trump said this month that "if the treaty expires, it expires," and that the treaty should be replaced with a better one.
Some American politicians argue that Trump should reject Putin's proposal, which would allow Washington to expand its arsenal to counter the rapid nuclear buildup by a third power: China.
Trump says he wants to pursue "denuclearization" with both Russia and China. But Beijing says it is unreasonable to expect it to join disarmament talks with two countries whose arsenals are still much larger than its own.