Top News: House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats demand answers on Trump’s illegal withdrawal from Open Skies House Foreign Affairs Initial analysis of new sub-launched nuclear cruise missile coming ‘shortly’ Defense News Too late to deal with New START extension after U.S. presidential election TASS United States House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats demand answers on Trump’s illegal withdrawal from Open Skies House Foreign Affairs5/29/20 Led by Chairman Eliot L. Engel, all Democratic members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs today demanded thorough answers from the Trump Administration on its withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty announced last week. Initial analysis of new sub-launched nuclear cruise missile coming ‘shortly’ Defense News6/1/20 The Pentagon is not seeing major delays “at this time” to its nuclear warhead modernization efforts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a top nuclear official at the department. Nuclear arms control: What happens when U.S. and Russia let it lapse? Christian Science Monitor6/1/20 The world is sleepwalking toward a period free of nuclear arms control, as New START, the last remaining nuclear weapons treaty, is set to expire next February. PODCAST: Renewed nuclear testing in… the U.S.? Arms Control Wonk5/29/20 John Hudson and Paul Sonne at the Washington Post broke the story that Trump administration officials have discussed conducting additional nuclear tests in the United States. East Asia Kim is back, but North Korea still isn’t stable Foreign Policy6/1/20 There’s a lot more to worry about in Pyongyang than just its ruler’s health. Middle East Iran continues its nuclear work, but is it weapons grade? The Hill6/1/20 In the next few days, the latest quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to become public. It will make headlines even if it doesn’t contain any news. Russia and Europe Russia’s General Staff views NATO drills in Barents Sea as provocation TASS6/1/20 Russia’s General Staff considers NATO military exercises in the Barents Sea in early May as a provocation, Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Russia’s General Staff Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi said on Monday. France, Britain, Germany ‘regret’ U.S. end to Iran nuclear waivers Reuters5/30/20 France, Germany and Britain on Saturday criticised a U.S. decision to end sanctions waivers allowing work on Iranian nuclear sites designed to prevent weapons development. Too late to deal with New START extension after U.S. presidential election TASS5/29/20 It would be very late to deal with the extension of the Russian-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, known as the New START Treaty, after the day of US presidential election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with the National Interest published on Saturday. U.S., Russia to meet on arms control Arms Control Association6/1/20 The United States and Russia have agreed to discuss nuclear arms control issues, according to U.S. President Donald Trump’s arms control envoy following a May 8 phone call. Multilateral Arms Control Postponement of the 2020 NPT Review Conference: possible implications CNS6/1/20 The Tenth NPT Review Conference, originally scheduled for April-May 2020, was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.