For Immediate Release: February 5, 2026
Media Contacts: Daryl Kimball, ACA Executive Director, (202) 462-8270 ext. 107
(WASHINGTON, D.C.)— Today, February 5, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) expired. High ranking former officials and nuclear experts from across the globe, including the United States, Europe, and Russia, came together in a joint statement to express their concern that for the first time in decades there are no bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between the United States and Russia.
The joint statement, published by the nongovernmental Commission on Challenges to Deep Cuts “On Expiration of New START and Imperative for Enduring Nuclear Restraint and Disarmament Measures,” was signed by 23 senior former officials and nuclear experts.
In this new era, the signatories stress that the lack of arms control agreements “will reduce nuclear stability and predictability, threaten global security, and increase the risk of a new era of unconstrained nuclear competition.”
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association and one of the signatories, stated “more nuclear weapons will not make us safer. This statement brings together high ranking officials who can all agree that concrete and meaningful nuclear restraint is urgently needed.”
Looking ahead towards the 2026 Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty (NPT) Review Conference, the signatories emphasize that, “continued adherence to the global moratorium on nuclear test explosions, and the resumption of sustained nuclear arms control talks would also signal to the rest of the world that Moscow and Washington are serious about implementing their disarmament commitments under Article VI of the NPT.”
Thomas Countryman, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, and ACA Board Chair commented: “The continued failure of Beijing, Moscow, and Washington to engage in good-faith arms control and disarmament negotiations is a violation of their disarmament obligations and commitments under Article VI of the NPT, undermining the viability and value of this critical pillar of the international security architecture.”
Read the full statement now.