The expiry of the US-Russia New Start arms control treaty, limiting each one’s deployed missiles to roughly 1,550, is alarming. The Austrian rapporteur to the group speaks of the urgent “need for a paradigm shift away from nuclear deterrence” – a call echoed by Irish diplomacy. The TPNW prohibits the development, testing, production, manufacture, transfer, possession, use or threatened use of nuclear weapons. [ A world without nuclear arms control has begunOpens in new window ]Nuclear weapons have repeatedly not deterred conflicts involving nuclear-armed states. Under the NPT, states without nuclear weapons commit not to acquire them, as long as the weapons states made good faith efforts to disarm.

Source: The Irish Times February 21, 2026 15:27 UTC