Russian-American Tactical Nuclear Arms Control Unlikely

On Sept. 3, the Russian government indicated it would insist on challenging conditions for negotiating any limitations on its tactical nuclear weapons (TNW). Russian Col. Gen. Vladimir Verkhovtsev, head of the Defense Ministry’s 12th Main Directorate, which is responsible for Russia’s nuclear weapons, told reporters that Russia would require that other countries — “above all France and Britain” — join with Moscow and Washington in any future TNW arms control talks. For years, Western officials, legislators, and analysts have called for additional measures to eliminate, or at least sharply reduce, the remaining TNWs in the U.S. and Russian arsenals. TNWs […]