Scott Ritter published an article on his “Real Scott Ritter” Substack channel, under the above title on Oct. 6, warning that “Arms control teeters on the brink of extinction, and with it all of humanity.” He begins by reporting that the New START treaty, the last of the arms control treaties, expires on Feb. 5, 2026, and, despite the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to extend the limitations of the treaty for another year, the U.S. has not responded. Ritter goes on that this “is disconcerting, since the purpose of the moratorium isn’t to simply prevent an arms race in the short term, but also buy time for negotiations that would result in a new treaty framework that takes into account the complexities surrounding the issue of nuclear weapons and arms control today.”
He quotes Putin from the Oct. 2 Valdai Club speech that Russia can determine what happens over the next year, but Ritter adds: “But what happens beyond that, it’s hard to tell. There are a lot of things left to figure out. If we know that there are people in the U.S. who say that they don’t need any kind of arms control, then neither do we. Overall, we’re okay. We are sure of our nuclear shield. We know what we need to do tomorrow and after that.”
On the role of China, Putin said the West wants them in the treaty talks, but “why are we leaving the French and the U.K. nuclear potential behind? They’re NATO members by the way. They want to provide their nuclear umbrella for the whole of Europe.”
Ritter says that U.S. President Donald Trump “is not being well served by his administration,” pointing to the fact that Vice President J.D. Vance and Gen. Keith Kellogg have both hinted that they may support deploying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Ritter again quotes Putin (from Reuters): “Using Tomahawks without direct involvement of the U.S. officers is impossible. Which means a completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States.”
Ritter reminds us that in December 2024 then-President-elect Trump told Time magazine, regarding Biden’s agreement to allow Ukraine to use the U.S.-provided ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia: “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done. Now they’re doing not only missiles, but they’re doing other types of weapons. And I think that’s a very big mistake, very big mistake.”
With Trump on the verge of making a huge mistake by agreeing to the use of Tokamaks in Ukraine, Ritter asserts: “Congress should be called upon to pass a resolution banning the U.S. from providing the Tomahawk missile to Ukraine, as well as providing intelligence support to assist Ukraine in targeting these and other missiles.” He proposes the wording for such a resolution.
Ritter continues: “Congressional intervention is needed to wake the Trump administration up about the inconsistency of its policy positions regarding the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine and the danger such policies pose to the larger issue of strategic nuclear arms control. It could also jolt the Trump administration into addressing Putin’s offer of a New START moratorium, and the need to begin a comprehensive review of U.S. arms control policies and priorities.”
Ritter concludes: “One mistake, one miscalculation, and the world could very well find itself confronting the horrific reality of a nuclear Armageddon.
“Let’s give peace a chance.
“Congress should act now to keep still the missiles of October.”
