Biden aide raises possible increased deployments of U.S. strategic
nuclear weapons
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[June 08, 2024]
By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States may have to deploy more
strategic nuclear weapons in coming years to deter growing threats from
Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House aide said on
Friday.
Pranay Vaddi, the top National Security Council arms control official,
made his comments in a speech on "a more competitive approach" to arms
control that outlined a policy shift aimed at pressing Moscow and
Beijing to reverse rejections of U.S. calls for arsenal limitation
talks.
"Absent a change in adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the
coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is
required. We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes
that decision," he told the Arms Control Association.
"If that day comes, it will result in a determination that more nuclear
weapons are required to deter our adversaries and protect the American
people and our allies and partners."
The U.S. currently observes a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear
warheads set in the 2010 New START treaty with Russia even though Moscow
"suspended" its participation last year over U.S. support for Ukraine, a
move Washington called "legally invalid."
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Vaddi spoke a year after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told
the same group there was no need to increase U.S. strategic nuclear arms
deployments to counter the arsenals of Russia and China, to which he
offered talks "without preconditions."
The administration remains committed to international arms control and
non-proliferation regimes designed to curb the spread of nuclear
weapons, Vaddi said.
But, he said, 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."
The three and Iran "are increasingly cooperating and coordinating with
each other in ways that run counter to peace and stability, threaten the
United States, our allies and our partners and exacerbate region
tensions," he said.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are sharing advanced missile and
drone technology, said Vaddi, citing Moscow's use in Ukraine of Iranian
drones and North Korean artillery and missiles, and Chinese support for
Russia's defense industries.
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A military aide carries a briefcase containing launch codes for
nuclear weapons at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 24,
2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
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PUTIN'S WARNING
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he could deploy
conventional missiles within striking distance of the U.S. and its
European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia
with long-range Western weapons. But he said on Friday Russia had no
need to use nuclear weapons to secure victory in Ukraine, where
Moscow is waging war.
U.S. nuclear doctrine, Vaddi said, reserves nuclear weapons to
deterring attacks by adversaries "on us and our allies and
partners," while remaining committed with Britain and France to
"transparency" on nuclear policies and forces.
But if U.S. adversaries boost reliance on nuclear weapons "we will
have no choice but to adjust our posture and capabilities to
preserve deterrence and stability," he said.
The administration is taking "prudent steps" toward that end,
including modernizing the U.S. arsenal, he said.
At the same time, the administration is committed to halting the
spread of nuclear weapons, including bolstering the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the global arms control
regime, he said.
Vaddi noted that President Joe Biden has pledged continued
compliance the deployment limits set in the New START treaty as long
as they are observed by Russia.
However, he said, Moscow has repeatedly rejected talks on a
successor pact to New START, the last strategic arms limitation pact
between the world's largest nuclear powers, which expires in 2026.
China, meanwhile, has declined to discuss with the United States its
expanding nuclear arsenal, he said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Ismail Shakil, Editing by Alistair
Bell and Timothy Heritage)
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