‘US, Russia agree to extend ‘New START’ nuclear arms treaty
- Category
India & world
- Published
2nd Feb, 2021
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The Russian lower house of Parliament, the Duma, ratified a new START nuclear treaty with the US.
Context
- The Russian lower house of Parliament, the Duma, ratified a new START nuclear treaty with the US.
About
- 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
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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.