Members of the Younger
Generation Leadership Network on Euro-Atlantic Security
(YGLN), including NTI Program Officer Leon Ratz, today published an open letter
to Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin urging the two leaders to
preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)
Treaty and extend New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty).
“We are writing to you because we are gravely concerned by the
possible collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and
urge you to preserve the agreement, resolve compliance issues, and work to protect
the nuclear arms control infrastructure that has underpinned global security
for decades,” the letter said. “It is that security that allowed our generation
to move past the constant fear of nuclear war. We now believe that security is
at risk.” The group also called on the presidents to initiate a dialogue on
strategic stability and to re-affirm Ronald Reagan’s statement that “a nuclear
war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
Read the full text of the YGLN letter here.
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New START, the last remaining arms control treaty capping U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, expires on February 5. This marks the beginning of a dangerous new era. For the first time in several decades, there will be no limits on nuclear weapons, less visibility into Russian nuclear weapons activities, and fewer tools to manage a crisis between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
NTI encourages the United States and the Russian Federation to continue to abide by New START’s limits on intercontinental-range nuclear weapons past its scheduled expiration on February 5, 2026.
Participants examined how NWFZs can be productive geopolitical tools amid mounting challenges, including great power competition, disruptive technologies, and a weakening global nonproliferation and disarmament architecture.
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