The only nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia is the Strategic Nuclear Arms Control Treaty (START) and it expires on Feb. 5, 2026. Russian President Putin has offered to negotiate a new START treaty or extend it for one year. President Trump is quoted to have said, “If it expires, it expires” (1). Elon Musk has been quoted concerning a nuclear exchange: “It’s not as scary as people think” (2).

Today’s worldwide nuclear arsenal numbers are 12,405 nuclear weapons (3). There are many crises in the world today: ecological, political, famine, war, poverty and disease. These menaces are potentially reversible. Nuclear war is not.

1. Trump to N.Y. Times, Jan. 8, 2026.

2. Conversation with D. Trump, Aug. 11, 2025.

3. ICAN International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons.

Tom Guba,

Lawrence