Russia

Great headway has been made since the end of the Cold War in shrinking the Russian and US nuclear arsenals. But between them, the United States and Russia still have more than 14,000 nuclear weapons — over 93% of the world's stockpile. More than three thousand of them remain on high alert, meaning they can be launched in a matter of minutes.

Reducing these nuclear stockpiles help increase global stability, build the international non-proliferation regime and reduce the chances that nuclear materials will fall into the hands of terrorists. Instead, Russia and the United States are now on the brink of a new arms race to rebuild their nuclear arsenals.

Latest News and Analysis on Russia and Nuclear Weapons

  • Arms control key issue at U.S.-Russia summit

    Seeking to reverse the Bush-era deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations, President Obama will meet with Russian President Medvedev next week with arms control at the top of their agenda.  Daryl Kimbal

    June 29, 2009 - By Deborah Bain

  • The State of Russian Nuclear Disarmament

    Russia continues to reduce its nuclear arsenal, but still deploys about 2,790 hydrogen bombs on long-range missiles and bombers.

    June 26, 2009 - By Joe Cirincione

  • Third round of START talks begin

    U.S. and Russian diplomats this week launched a third round of talks aimed at negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Agence France-Presse reported.

    June 23, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • Stockpile of chemical weapons in Siberia to be destroyed

    A new facility to destroy Russian chemical weapons will officially open on May 29, 2009.  The joint U.S.-Russian project to eradicate the chemical weapons site in the Siberian city of Shchuchye, first proposed in 1996, has been repeatedly delayed.

    May 26, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • U.S.-Russian Team Deems Missile Shield in Europe Ineffective

    The Washington Post reports today that a planned U.S.

    May 19, 2009 - By Deborah Bain

  • Russia-U.S. START talks underway

    Russia and the U.S. are due to begin talks on a new treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. The Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty, or START 1, is due to expire in December.

    May 18, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • New Realism About U.S.-Russia Relations

    Though conservative foreign policy experts have repudiated the notion that the U.S.

    May 15, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • Japan, Russia nuclear energy deal not welcomed by all

    Japan and Russia’s recent nuclear energy pact raises environmental and proliferation concerns.

    May 14, 2009 - By Sarah Brown

  • The New Realism of Arms Control

    by Joseph Cirincione

    This article was co-authored with Ploughshares Fund Research Assistant Benjamin Loehrke.

    This week, UK Foreign Minister David Miliband told a small gathering at the New America Foundation that Britain was serious about nuclear disarmament. So are a lot of people. Arms control is back, big time.

    May 13, 2009 - By Joe Cirincione

  • Nuclear Experts Offer Draft Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty

    A panel of nuclear experts yesterday presented a proposed version of a long-awaited international treaty to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.  President Barack Obama said last month that establishing a cutoff treaty would be one of the "concrete steps toward a

    May 12, 2009 - By Deborah Bain