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The US is considering deploying more strategic nuclear weapons, a senior Biden official said.
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Russia, China and North Korea are rapidly increasing their nuclear capabilities, said Pranay Vaddi.
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The US must modernize its nuclear arsenal to deter threats and preserve stability, the official said.
The US is considering deploying more strategic nuclear weapons after years of post-Cold War cuts, a senior Biden administration official said.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Arms Control Association (ACA) on Friday, Pranay Vaddi, the National Security Council’s top arms control official, he said“We may reach a point in the next few years where an increase over the current numbers deployed will be necessary. We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes this decision.”
Vaddi warned that US adversaries, specifically referring to Russia, China and North Korea, “are all expanding and diversifying their nuclear arsenals at a breakneck pace, showing little or no interest in arms control.”
Along with Iran, these countries “are increasingly cooperating and coordinating with each other in ways that go against peace and stability, threaten the United States, our allies, and our partners, and exacerbate tensions in the region.” “, he said.
Vaddi’s comments contrast with the US government’s position on nuclear proliferation outlined by the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the ACA meeting last year.
Sullivan said the US did not need to “deploy increasingly dangerous nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence” or engage in a Cold War-style arms race.
“We’ve been there. We’ve learned that lesson,” Sullivan said.
In February last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew from the 2010 New START Treaty, which placed controls on the number of nuclear weapons that Russia and the US could have at their disposal.
The limits meant that no country could have more than 1,550 nuclear warheads deployed.
Putin said that to resume treaty activities, the US would need to stop its support for Ukraine and force France and the UK to participate in arms control talks.
At the time, President Joe Biden called Putin’s decision a “big mistake.”
Last week, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened nuclear attacks in the WestReuters reported.
The former president held the position from 2008 to 2012 and currently serves as vice-president of the Russian Security Council.
Reuters reported that Medvedev said: “No one today can rule out the transition of the conflict to its final phase.”
In May, Russia announced exercises with tactical nuclear weapons near Ukrainewho claims they are being held in response to recent “threats” from the West.
Speaking about the growing threat of nuclear conflict, Vaddi said: “We will have no choice but to adjust our posture and capabilities to preserve deterrence and stability.”
“We need to convince our adversaries that managing rivalry through arms control is preferable to unbridled competition,” he said.
Read the original article at Business Insider
