Context

• The Russian lower house of Parliament, the Duma, ratified a new START nuclear treaty with the US. 

About

• What is in the treaty?

• The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart at the time, Dmitry Medvedev.
• The treaty was to replace the 1991 START treaty.
• The treaty limits each party to 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, and 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers. 
• It also envisions a rigorous inspection regime to verify compliance. 

Overview Signed: 8 April 2010 Entered into Force: 5 February 2011 Duration: Ten-year duration with option to extend for no more than five years Parties: United States, Russian Federation

Has the treaty worked?

The U.S. and Russia reduced their nuclear arsenals to the agreed-upon limits by the 2018 deadline set forth in the treaty.

• The U.S. had 1,457 deployed warheads and 675 deployed strategic delivery systems as of Dec. 1, 2020, according to the U.S. State Department.
• Russia had 1,447 deployed warheads attributed to 510 deployed strategic launchers. Combined, the two countries account for about 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.