The US said it was considering expanding its nuclear deterrent, after a major non-proliferation treaty expired.
Within hours of New START lapsing last week, a senior State Department official complained of the pact’s “unacceptable” constraints, while President Donald Trump rejected a Russian proposal for an informal extension. Since then, the US Navy has begun putting more ICBMs onto some submarines; the treaty had limited their maximum loadout.
The US believes Russia and China have both conducted nuclear tests despite the treaty, and the State Department has suggested Washington could restart them as well. Expanding deployment and beginning new tests would “reverse nearly 40 years of stricter nuclear control” by the US, The New York Times reported.
