US will soon need to deter two major nuclear powers for first time, White House says

Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first time, the Biden administration has warned, pointing to the Russian arsenal that is increasingly being brandished by Moscow and an expanding Chinese stockpile.

Under the last remaining major arms control agreement in place, the New Start treaty, the US and Russia observe a ceiling of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, referring to those warheads mounted on land or sea-launched missiles, or ready for loading on to long-range bombers.

Daryl Kimball, the head of the Arms Control Association, expressed concern over whether the new language in the strategy document could herald a rethink about the size of the US arsenal.