The era of arms control over nuclear arsenals is set to end on Thursday as the last legal check on the size of Russia and the US’s deployed nuclear weapons expires. This capped the number of nuclear warheads deployed by each country at 1,550 – more than enough to destroy each other and much of the world. “President Trump has spoken repeatedly of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in arms control talks,” a White House official said. China’s race to build its own nuclear arsenal has complicated conversations over nuclear arms control. For its part, Beijing is unlikely to entertain the idea of arms control until it has parity with the US.

Source: The Irish Times February 04, 2026 15:02 UTC