Both Russia and the U.S. are interested in reaching a new Strategic Arms Reducing Treaty instead of prolonging the existing one, says Joseph Cirincione, the president of Ploughshares Fund.
“Both sides recognize that nuclear weapons are more likely to be used against them in military operations. I see this process extending over time, though. Probably another 20-25 years and in each stage it will go to lower and lower numbers. I think it is likely that we will see in the very near future, in the next couple of years, a treaty where both the US and Russia reduce to about 1,000 warheads each. Then down to hundreds and that is when it really gets tough. I think it will take a decade or more to go from hundreds of nuclear weapons down to a regime where we could very favorably get to zero”.