The US and Russia have finally agreed on a new 10-year nuclear weapons treaty three months after the last START treaty expired and after a year of negotiation, announced US President Barack Obama today.
"Today, we have taken another step forward in leaving behind the legacy of the 20th century while building a more secure future for our children. We have turned words into action. We have made progress that is clear and concrete," said Obama at a White House briefing. "And we have demonstrated the importance of American leadership—and American partnership—on behalf of our own security, and the world's."
The treaty, called the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, New START for short, cuts US and Russian nuclear arsenals by a third—to 1550 intercontinental ballistic missiles or deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles within 7 years—and increases the amount of verification on the remaining weapons through on-site inspections and exhibitions, data exchanges and notifications related to strategic offensive arms and facilities covered by the Treaty.
It is the first new major nuclear arms control treaty in 20 years, and will help the US and Russia meet their commitments to reduce arms under the nuclear non proliferation treaty which is up for review in May. This will also "strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities," said Obama.
The military view
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that the upcoming nuclear posture review (NPR)—which lays out under what conditions the US would use nuclear weapons and what resources are required to maintain them—had factored in the decrease in strategic nuclear weapons.
"it is clear that we can accomplish these [NPR] goals with fewer nuclear weapons," said Gates. "The reductions in this treaty will not affect the strength of our nuclear triad, nor does this treaty limit plans to protect the United States and our allies by improving and deploying missile-defense systems."
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the nation's military leaders were allowed to submit their input during the process.
"I would only like to add that I, the vice chairman and the Joint Chiefs, as well as our combatant commanders around the world stand solidly behind this new treaty," he said, "having had the opportunity to provide our counsel, to make our recommendations and to help shape the final agreements.
"Through the trust it engenders, the cuts it requires and the flexibility it preserves," Mullen added, "this treaty enhances our ability to do that which we have been charged to do: protect and defend the citizens of the United States."
The Treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned US missile defense programs or current or planned US long-range conventional strike capabilities.
The Senate game
The US Senate and the Russian legislature must approve the Treaty before it can enter into force.
Whether the republicans will support such a treaty, which requires a two-thirds majority to go into ratification, remains unclear.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), released a statement this morning pleading for bipartisan support:
I know there has been a partisan breakdown in recent years, but we can renew the Senate's bipartisan tradition on arms control and approve ratification of this new treaty in 2010. I know that can happen. This is a moment for statesmanship. As soon as the President sends the agreement to the Senate, we will appeal to all our colleagues to set aside preconceptions and partisanship and consider the treaty on its merits. We can't squander this opportunity to reset both our relations with Russia and our role as the world leader on nuclear nonproliferation. This is a major commitment by both countries to reduce their nuclear arsenals and an important step in solidifying our relationship with Russia. Let's get it done."
Russian president Medvedev and Obama will sign the treaty on 8 April in Prague, the Czech Republic, nearly a year to the day that Obama called for a nuclear weapon free world.
Paul Guinnessy
