"I have put forward a new disarmament agenda to advance global peace," Guterres said. "In the near term, the ‘New START’ agreement must be extended; we must work to address the heightened threat posed by ballistic missiles, and ensure a successful 2020 Review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."
The New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between the world's two largest nuclear-armed powers — the United States and Russia.
It was signed between Russia and the US in April 2010 to replace an old nuclear armaments treaty. The New START has limited the amount of both countries' nuclear missile launchers, inter-continental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and deployed warheads, without imposing limits on the number of inactive stockpiled nuclear warheads. The arms treaty is set to expire on 5 February 2021 with an option to extend it until 2026.
