UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The last Russia-U.S. nuclear treaty is about to expire; what happens next?

Q1. New START, the last legally binding U.S.–Russia nuclear arms control treaty (which expired in February 2026), is the short name for which one of the following?

  • A. Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms
  • B. Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems
  • C. Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles
  • D. Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty

Q2. New START (2010) was signed on behalf of Russia by which of the following leaders?

  • A. Dmitry Medvedev
  • B. Vladimir Putin
  • C. Boris Yeltsin
  • D. Mikhail Gorbachev

Q3. With reference to the central limits set by the New START treaty, consider the following statements: Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It caps deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 per side.
  2. It caps deployed and non-deployed strategic delivery-vehicle launchers at 800.
  3. It caps deployed ballistic-missile launchers and nuclear-armed bombers at 700.
  4. It binds the United States, Russia and China as the three signatory parties.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 2 and 4

Q4. Under the New START treaty, the ceiling on deployed strategic nuclear warheads permitted to each side is:

  • A. 700
  • B. 800
  • C. 1,550
  • D. 2,200

Q5. In India, the nodal authority that handles diplomacy on global nuclear disarmament and arms-control architecture (such as the framework affected by New START's expiry) is:

  • A. The Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division of the Ministry of External Affairs
  • B. The Department of Atomic Energy
  • C. The Strategic Forces Command under the Ministry of Defence
  • D. The National Security Council Secretariat