"If current trends continue in the negative direction with Russia saying ‘no’ to arms control, China building up and North Korea building up, there may be a need to increase the number of deployed US nuclear weapons in the future," a senior Biden administration official was quoted as saying on Thursday.
The decision on whether to deploy more nuclear weapons will ultimately be left to the incoming Trump administration. Trump greenlighted all of the major nuclear weapons programs inherited from the Obama administration during his first term.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly argued that Russia has never rejected dialogue on strategic stability.
Russia and the US signed a Treaty on measures for the future reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms (New START) in 2010 that capped their stockpiles of strategic offensive arms. The Biden administration has continuously stated its desire to extend the treaty, which expires in February 2026. Russia suspended its participation in the New START in February 2023 without fully withdrawing, saying it wanted clarity on how the pact would account for the nuclear weapons owned by Washington's NATO allies.