II. Russian–US nuclear arms control

Chapter:

12. Nuclear arms control and non-proliferation

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2015

Author(s):

Shannon N. Kile, Tariq Rauf

In 2014 US–Russian nuclear arms control and disarmament efforts remained largely stagnant. Russia and the United States—which collectively account for more than 93 per cent of the global holdings of nuclear weapons—made little progress in implementing negotiated reductions in their deployed strategic nuclear forces. The United States renewed an allegation that Russia had violated an important cold war-era arms control treaty—a charge that Russia rejected and countered with its own compliance concerns. The year also saw a potential winding down of a long-running bilateral programme to secure nuclear materials and facilities in Russia. The developments came against the background of the broader deterioration in political relations between the two countries that have underscored their differences over the future of arms control.