Major World Events by Morning of February 4
🟠The Wednesday Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi will be held behind closed doors, a source told Sputnik;
🟠‘We are negotiating with them right now,' Trump said regarding the situation in Iran;
🟠South Africa is holding a ceremony, which will result in South Africa achieving Class A shareholder status in Afreximbank;
🟠‘Putin kept his word’ on the partial ceasefire in Ukraine, which ended on February 1, Trump said;
🟠Putin and Xi Jinping will hold a video conference on Wednesday, China Central Television reported;
🟠Muammar Gaddafi's son was killed in Libya, according to officials;
🟠US confirmed the deployment of a small team of troops to Nigeria, according to reports;
🟠Nigerian police charged the former justice minister and his son with five terrorism-related and firearms offenses.
New START’s demise represents ‘turning point’ in international security order - experts
The New Start agreement’s looming February 5 expiration “effectively amounts to a return to the Cold War era, giving every nuclear power free rein to build up its capabilities, and raising the bar for the arms race,” Lebanese political scientist Ali Al-Maraabi told Sputnik.
“This creates extreme risks for global security, since today there is no other effective formula for regulating nuclear tensions besides New START. Even the UN does not have effective control mechanisms in this area.”
The treaty’s breakdown comes down to two factors, Syrian journalist Firas Mardiny says: Washington’s belief that China has nuclear capabilities that should require it to join the agreement, expanding its scope, and Russia’s interest in including European US allies Britain and France into any new deal.
Whatever comes next, Egyptian researcher and international relations specialist Monica William stresses that New START’s demise “represents a turning point in the international security system, and will lead to a profound reevaluation of the very concept of strategic stability.”
In any case, Russia retains a wide spectrum of response options:
“In this new reality, Moscow has significant room to maneuver without resorting to direct confrontation within the framework of so-called ‘deterrence realism’. Its steps could include raising the level of nuclear readiness, announcing a major modernization of the arsenal of hypersonic intercontinental missiles, expanding the scale of military exercises, increasing the emphasis of the provisions of the Russian nuclear doctrine, and revising the balance of deterrence in relations with Europe,” William said.
