Russia and the United States failed to reach an agreement on the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Thus, a new nuclear arms race began. Although this is bad news for the world as a whole, it may create certain advantages for Ukraine in the short and medium term.

Axar.az informs that, as reported by the military-analytical portal "Defense Express" (DE).

The publication notes that currently Russia and the United States each maintain about 700 nuclear weapons carriers - intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic aviation aircraft - in combat readiness, and the number of warheads ready for use is about twice that. Maintaining such an arsenal requires quite large financial resources.

DE cited estimates from the US Congressional Budget Office in April 2025. According to these estimates, the Pentagon spends about $ 95 billion a year to maintain the combat readiness of strategic forces, which is approximately 10 percent of the total defense budget.

Russia's nuclear weapons spending is kept secret and, given the lower cost of production in the Russian military-industrial complex, is likely to be several times lower than in the United States. However, analysts believe that the share of nuclear weapons in Russia's overall defense spending is probably at a similar level to that in the United States.

"If there is no longer a "limiting mechanism", an increase in the nuclear arsenal is a completely expected result, and this will lead to even greater costs. The Kremlin will be forced to allocate more funds for nuclear weapons: to produce more warheads, launch more intercontinental and medium-range ballistic missiles, launch nuclear submarines, and also invest in the development of new, unprecedented projects such as "Burevestnik" or "Poseidon", - experts emphasized.