The post-war international order may be tearing apart at the seams and international law is increasingly looking like a polite fiction, but we did just pass one notable milestone of global peace and stability: As of this month, the world has gone the longest time without a nuclear explosion since the atomic era began more than 80 years ago.

On 4 February 2026, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is due to expire. If it does, it will mark the first time since the early 1970s that there will be no legally binding limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear forces without another agreement being under negotiation.

Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow had not received a U.S. response to Russia's proposal to extend the New START treaty.

With the last US-Russia nuclear arms pact set to expire, the world faces growing uncertainty over who, if anyone, will keep nuclear weapons in check.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine suddenly found itself in possession of the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal. This breakdown explains why those weapons were ultimately surrendered,

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday called North Korea a "country owning nuclear weapons" along with China and Russia, a stance the Japanese government has not officially acknowledged.

Japan doesn’t seem likely to develop nuclear weapons in the short-term. However, the tensions that triggered this episode are not likely to end soon. This raises questions about the feasibility of a Japanese nuclear programme and the sustainability of Japan’s non-nuclear position.

An ally and former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Boris Yeltsin said the country could use nuclear weapons against Europe should Russia ever be on the verge of defeat in its ongoing war with Ukraine.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that North Korea is producing enough nuclear fissile material to build between 10 and 20 nuclear weapons each year.