NEW START TREATY
CONTEXT
- Russian President Vladimir Putin recently week proposed extending by one year the New START treaty.
ABOUT NEW START
- New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
- It was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague, and, after ratification, entered into force on 5 February 2011. It is expected to last at least until 2021.
- New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was to expire in December 2012.
- The treaty calls for halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers. A new inspection and verification regime will be established, replacing the SORT mechanism.
- It does not limit the number of operationally inactive nuclear warheads stockpiled by Russia and the United States, a number in the high thousands.
- The treaty also limits the number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments to 800.