This commentary collection compiles 9 articles by ELN network members and external collaborators as part of the ELN’s Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty project. The collection was originally published for the 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee.
Three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as New START enters its penultimate year in force, Nicholas Lokker writes that Russia is seeking to extricate itself from previously established arms control agreements it perceives as elements of the broader Western-dominated political and security order that it aims to overturn. He also argues that whilst Russia is unwilling to return to the negotiating table now, economics and external pressure from allies could herald a resumption of talks in future.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a new impetus for the European Union to further its territorial and institutional integration. Nicholas Lokker writes that creativity and compromise will be essential to capitalising on this opportunity to increase the EU’s geopolitical influence.