The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last bilateral arms-control agreement between Russia and the United States, is set to expire on 5 February 2021. The treaty restricts the number of deployed Russian and US strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems. Both President Putin and newly inaugurated President Biden have expressed their wish to extend the treaty for a further five years and Moscow and Washington have suggested that they should use this time to negotiate a new follow-on arms-control agreement.

Designing a new treaty raises questions and obstacles about what to cover and which countries to include. In this webinar the speakers discuss what, from an arms-control perspective, is desirable and what can be delivered. What additional types of strategic offensive weapons might Russia and the US wish to consider in a follow-on treaty and how easily could a new agreement incorporate these? Should a future treaty remain bilateral or should Russia and the US seek to engage other nuclear-weapon states, particularly China, and how might this be achieved? Lastly, what potential is there for a new treaty to address emerging technologies and non-strategic nuclear weapons? Could negotiations provide a catalyst for separate discussions on these issues?

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