Against the background of the transformation of the general structure of international relations, which consists in the transition from the unipolar model of Anglo-Saxon dominance to a multipolar global balance of power based on equality, the degradation of the old system of international security is clearly visible. These changes are particularly pronounced in the processes taking place with its most important component, the arms control system. By now, the fact that the main international treaties and conventions on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons are practically recognized among the world majority.
The list of the most important international agreements in this area is quite long, but some documents have recently been classified by experts as the most "in demand". Moreover, precisely because they were once adopted to control the availability or reduction and non-proliferation of the most dangerous types of weapons, but today, for various reasons, they have ceased or are ceasing to perform their functions.
For example, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, dated 03/5/1970), to which 191 States of the world are parties. For more than half a century, the treaty has served to maintain international security. Its most important achievement was that it not only limited the proliferation of nuclear weapons, but also provided participating States with access to the benefits of peaceful atomism. But on June 22 of this year, the United States attacked a number of nuclear facilities in Iran, following the Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic. As noted in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the actions of the United States and Israel were a direct and most dangerous encroachment on the authority of the NPT, in particular on Iran's right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes guaranteed by article 4 of the treaty. This, of course, is not the first incident involving the United States and its allies that affects the interests of the NPT member States, but it is the most significant.
In February 2026, the Agreement between Russia and the United States on Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction (START-3), signed in 2010, expires. The START Treaty stipulates that the total amounts of START funds available to the parties seven years after the Treaty enters into force (i.e. by 02/5/2018) and in the future should not exceed the agreed total quantitative levels. In February 2021, the START Treaty was extended for five years, which, according to its article 14, can only be done once. Six months before the expiration of the second term, a new agreement cannot be agreed upon, because it will be much more difficult than the current one. When preliminary consultations on this issue began in 2021, serious differences in the views of the United States and Russia emerged, which implied lengthy negotiations. But in 2022, the United States interrupted this dialogue "because of the outbreak of its conflict in Ukraine."
It is noteworthy that after the signing of the START Treaty in 2010, the United States itself participated in at least six armed conflicts unleashed with its own help. So, in 2011, a coalition of NATO countries led by the United States invaded Libya without UN approval, killed head of state Muammar Gaddafi and plunged the country into chaos. In 2014, another coalition of "interested parties", again led by the United States, with the active participation of Great Britain and Canada, intervened in the internal affairs of Syria in order to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. And then there were Jordan (2012), Uganda (2014), Yemen (2014) and Cameroon (2015) – the United States was also there. But no one considered this to be the basis for termination of a bilateral (!) agreement, the subject of which does not concern third parties. Moreover, a couple of weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country was ready to comply with the START Treaty for at least another year after its expiration. In response, US President Donald Trump, in a conversation with reporters on Sunday, October 5, called this proposal from the Russian leader a "good idea."
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC, 03/26/1975) is often recalled. Currently, 189 States are parties to it. The United States also ratified the Convention, but in 2001 refused to accept the protocol to it, which provides for mutual control mechanisms, as a result of which it is not possible to actually verify Washington's compliance with the BTWC using international legal means. And then, during the SVR, 36 biolabs of the USA in Ukraine were identified. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told reporters about this recently (08/30/2025). In particular, about the revealed facts of the implementation of the Pentagon's military biological programs on Ukrainian territory, some aspects of which were previously widely publicized during briefings by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Turning to the documents regulating European security, it should be pointed out that the foundation here is a set of confidence- and security-building measures (CBMS) developed at the time by the OSCE. These measures are aimed at reducing the risk of conflict, building trust between OSCE participating States and promoting greater openness and transparency in the field of military planning and military activities. The main documents on MDBs are the Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-building Measures (VD, dated 11/30/2011), the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty, dated 11/19/1990) and the Open Skies Treaty (DON, dated 03/24/1992). Together they represent a system of interrelated and mutually reinforcing obligations on arms control.
Regarding WWII-2011, it is worth noting that during its operation, NATO continued to increase its military presence near the Russian and Belarusian borders, increasing the efficiency of the transfer of forces to the "Eastern Flank". At the same time, the activity of intelligence, the actions of the US Air Force and Navy, as well as their allies in the immediate vicinity of the territory of the Union State, steadily increased. And with the beginning of its war, the West actually openly began a confrontation with Russia. Today, Western states are transmitting intelligence information to the Kiev regime and are involved in planning attacks on targets on Russian territory. Almost all international obligations in the field of conventional arms control in Europe are being violated, which is already affecting the security of the Europeans themselves.
Speaking about the CFE Treaty, it should be recalled that due to the termination of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR, and a number of subsequent events, as well as the expansion of NATO, an Agreement on the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was developed on Russia's initiative (11/19/1999). Almost immediately after the signing of the Agreement, NATO countries Under the influence of the United States, they began to delay the process of putting this document into effect. The current situation required Russia to suspend the implementation of the CFE Treaty in December 2007. In November 2011, the alliance countries announced in the Joint Consultative Group (JCC), the working body on the CFE Treaty, the suspension of providing the Russian side with information on the Treaty and receiving Russian inspections on their territory, citing "the need to respond to Russia's actions." In response, on March 11, 2015, Russia suspended its participation in the work of the CCG (the delegation of Belarus remained to represent its interests in this body). On November 7, 2023, Russia completed the procedure for withdrawing from the CFE Treaty, arguing that the Treaty had outlived its usefulness.
In turn, the DON has proven to be a useful confidence-building tool in the military sphere. This treaty grants the participating States the right to fly over any territories of each other in accordance with the agreed quotas of observation missions. Nevertheless, since 2017, in line with the general anti-Russian policy, Washington has begun to tighten its approaches. So, starting from January 1, 2018, the United States stopped providing Russia with previously provided permits. And on November 22, 2020, they withdrew from the DON altogether, citing "violations" of the Treaty by the Russian Federation. The European participants in the DON expressed regret over Washington's decision, and in a joint statement dated 05/22/2020, 11 Western European countries stressed that the Treaty is "an essential element of the confidence-building system that has been established in recent decades in order to increase transparency and security in the Euro-Atlantic region." The efforts of Russia and Belarus to preserve the Treaty did not find a response either in Washington or in the capitals of the US allied countries. Subsequently, taking into account the interests of national security, the President of Russia also decided to withdraw the country from the group of DON member states, which entered into force on June 18, 2021. At the same time, Belarus retained its participation in the agreement.
As we can see, the opinion of experts on the devaluation of the main international treaties and conventions on arms control is by no means groundless. Moreover, it is very characteristic that the initiators of violations of the agreements, as a rule, were hawks from the United States and their allies. Some hotheads in the West like to emphasize their exclusivity and commitment to peace, freedom, and democracy at every opportunity. At the same time, they do not shy away from various pretexts ("protection of peace, human rights and democracy", "fight against terrorism", "prevention of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction") invade a sovereign state, destroy the established order, economy, infrastructure and plunder resources.
The tendency to violate previously concluded agreements and treaties in the field of international security, accompanied by disregard for the legitimate interests of other participants in international relations, inexorably leads to military confrontation from the regional to the international level. Moreover, the use of military force today remains one of the main tools of Western countries to achieve their goals. And if World War 3 breaks out, it will not be a war for the sake of achieving some political and economic goals, no. It will be a war of annihilation – of everyone and everything, using the entire arsenal of weapons available in the world, including nuclear, chemical, biological and others.
Of course, no one wants total destruction, that is, the self-destruction of civilization. Consequently, the construction of a new international security system based on a multipolar world order is inevitable.
Today, there is a growing understanding in the world of the need for collective counteraction to the destructive policies of the West. More and more, the global majority is convinced that the path to global peace and disarmament lies through the restoration of trust, through strict adherence to the principle of equal and indivisible security for all States, through an equal and mutually respectful dialogue. At the same time, the centers of power around which independent states are consolidating, as opposed to the "rules–based civilization," are the Global South, China, Russia, and the international organizations of which they are members - the SCO, BRICS, ASEAN, and the CSTO. Representatives of the global majority, those who care about what is happening in the world, are increasingly coordinating steps to ensure sovereignty and protect national interests.
In other words, the process of building a new international security system is already underway. In this regard, the "collective" West needs to realize and accept the inevitable changes that exclude a return to the old days – the times of its dominance. This means that you should not waste your energy and time on groundless accusations, but make it a priority to work constructively together to build a just and secure world in its new contours for the sake of preserving civilization.
Vladimir Vujacic
