Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the end of a major U.S.-Russia arms control treaty, British government turmoil over the newly released Epstein files, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pressing U.S. President Donald Trump on Taiwan.
A World of Warheads
The last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States expired on Thursday, leaving the two countries without limits on their arsenals for the first time since 1972. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that a “better agreement” is needed, one that includes emerging nuclear powerhouse China. But until then, the owners of roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads remain unchecked.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the end of a major U.S.-Russia arms control treaty, British government turmoil over the newly released Epstein files, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pressing U.S. President Donald Trump on Taiwan.
A World of Warheads
The last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States expired on Thursday, leaving the two countries without limits on their arsenals for the first time since 1972. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that a “better agreement” is needed, one that includes emerging nuclear powerhouse China. But until then, the owners of roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads remain unchecked.
Signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the so-called New START treaty went into force in February 2011 and was set to expire in 15 years. The agreement capped the number of nuclear warheads that each country can deploy to 1,550 and included significant mechanisms for verification and transparency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in February 2023 that he was suspending his country’s participation in the treaty over Washington’s support for Ukraine, but the Russian Foreign Ministry said shortly after that Moscow would continue abiding by the agreement’s limits on the number of warheads it can deploy.
Upon taking office in January 2025, Trump appeared to shrug off Putin’s offer of a one-year informal extension. “If it expires, it expires,” Trump said, instead turning his focus on crafting a new agreement. However, progress has been minimal.
Axios reported on Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials are closing in on a deal to informally observe New START beyond its expiration but that the draft has not been finalized yet and would still need to be approved by both presidents. U.S. European Command also announced on Thursday that it will resume military-to-military dialogue with Moscow after it was suspended in 2021 ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow is “ready for dialogue with the United States on limiting strategic offensive arms if Washington responds constructively,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, adding that Russia plans to continue practicing a “responsible and attentive approach” to strategic nuclear stability.
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Thursday, said, “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”
Russia and the United States have both significantly cut back their nuclear arsenals since their first arms limitation treaty was signed more than 50 years ago. As of 2025, Russia was estimated to have 5,580 nuclear warheads, compared to the United States’ 5,225 warheads. Meanwhile, other countries—such as India, Pakistan, and North Korea—have bolstered their stockpiles in recent years.
Yet no nation has reached the growth levels of China, which is expected to more than double its arsenal of 600 warheads to 1,500 weapons by 2035. “Obviously, [Trump’s] been clear in the past that in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday. Beijing has expressed no interest in joining such a deal.
Experts argue that any new nuclear limitation treaty should address the rise in nuclear-capable nations, new evasive methods being developed to deliver warheads, and countries that may seek their own arsenals. “There are new technologies that are not covered by the treaty—hypersonic missiles, undersea nuclear weapons, space weapons. And there are many other countries that, for one reason or another, feel now as if they may need a nuclear arsenal of their own,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told the New York Times.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
British ties to Epstein. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a public apology on Thursday to the victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over the latter’s ties to Peter Mandelson, a former British ambassador to the United States. “I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you,” Starmer said. “Sorry for having believed [Mandelson’s] lies and appointed him.”
Last September, Starmer fired Mandelson following the publication of emails from the 2000s that showed Mandelson offering his support for Epstein. But newly released documents have reignited anger over Mandelson’s ties to the late sex offender—plunging Starmer’s Labour Party into fresh turmoil.
Documents released by the U.S. Justice Department last week appeared to show that Mandelson leaked sensitive government documents to, accepted money from, and exchanged sometimes crude messages with Epstein. On Wednesday, Starmer confirmed that the vetting process to appoint Mandelson in 2024 had revealed the man’s continued friendship with the disgraced financier after Epstein’s 2008 sex offender conviction. Such a revelation could lead policymakers to call for Starmer’s resignation, citing questionable judgment.
Xi on U.S. Taiwan policy. Trump held a lengthy phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, during which the two leaders discussed the purchase of U.S. soybeans, tensions with Iran, and the Russia-Ukraine war. But what most surprised Asia-watchers was Xi’s blatant pressure on the White House to pull back support for Taiwan just months after Washington signed its largest-ever arms package with Taipei, worth more than $11 billion.
“The United States must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence,” Xi told Trump, according to a readout of the call in Chinese state media, adding that Beijing “will never allow Taiwan to be separated” from China.
Trump described Wednesday’s conversation as “excellent” in a Truth Social post. The U.S. president has previously taken a delicate approach to the Taiwan issue, having blocked Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from visiting New York last summer to avoid offending Beijing during ongoing trade talks. That strategy is expected to continue as Trump prepares to visit the mainland later this year.
Argentina’s extradition request. An Argentine judge requested on Wednesday that the United States extradite former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to Buenos Aires, citing a case first filed in 2023 that accuses Maduro of crimes against humanity. That case includes Venezuelan plaintiffs who claim that they suffered torture, arbitrary detention, and forced disappearances at the hands of Venezuelan security and intelligence forces as part of a broader government crackdown on political dissidents.
Argentina is one of just a few countries whose law allows it to investigate crimes against humanity beyond its borders. Far-right President Javier Milei has also personally championed Maduro’s arrest, telling local media at the time that this is “excellent news for the free world.”
However, the Trump administration is unlikely to comply with the request. U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife during an overnight raid in Caracas last month and have brought them to a New York City jail to await trial. They are accused of abusing their positions of power to help traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States as well as of possessing machine guns and other destructive devices. If convicted, Maduro could face life in prison.
Odds and Ends
Angels are depicted in a variety of ways in Christian theology, but near-identical likenesses to modern political figures are usually where the line is drawn. Over the weekend, center-left Italian newspaper La Repubblica discovered that one of the angels painted in a Rome church was restored to bear the image of right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The sighting prompted fierce backlash, forcing the Vatican to order its removal, according to the artist who initially designed the angel’s face.
Meloni’s reaction, though, was less concerned. “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” she posted on Instagram on Sunday alongside a laughing emoji.
Great Job Alexandra Sharp & the Team @ World Brief – Foreign Policy for sharing this story.
