UNITED STATES/RUSSIA 5 Dec 2009 START treaty governing strategic nuclear weapons expires

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START, is a bilateral agreement between the United States and the former Soviet Union signed 31 Jul 1991. The United States and the countries with nuclear weapons following the Soviet break-up – Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine – signed a follow-up pact on 5 Dec 1994. The signatories are working towards a replacement treaty that further limits the weapons, but the talks are likely to involve horse-trading to resolve issues such as the US missile shield plan.

The new administration of President Barak Obama is reported to be looking for a quick deal to more than halve the signatories' nuclear weapons stockpiles, reversing the George W. Bush White House's refusal to be bound by international treaties. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an Associated Press report that Russia is "ready to go further on the path of reductions and limitations. Diplomats and officials say they are optimistic Washington and Moscow can quickly agree to cut warheads to about 1,000.

In February Britiain's Guardian newspaper reported that the prospects for a quick conclusion on nuclear arms are bound up with a host of other disputes between Washington and Moscow. Russia might balk at cutting its arsenal unless the Pentagon abandons its plans to put elements of its missile shield in central Europe, and the Americans are keen to enlist Russian help in its dispute with Iran over uranium enrichment and for help against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In January Russia promised to facilitate the transport of non-lethal goods to Afghanistan.

START, signed by by US President George HW Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, obliged Moscow and Washington to slash deployed strategic nuclear forces from approximately 10,000 warheads each to no more than 6,000 apiece by December 5, 2001. It also limits the number of delivery vehicles – such as bombers and land-based and submarine-based missiles – to 1,600 each. As of 1 Jan, according to Reuters in May 2007, Russia reported 4,162 warheads under START, and the United States claimed 5,866 warheads.

Another pact, the May 2002 Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT), commits the two sides to reduce forces to 1,700-2,200 operationally deployed warheads by the end of 2012. Feb/09

RELATED READING:

START talks (Encyclopedia Britannica)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/568196/Strategic-Arms-Reduction-Talks

Obama seeks nuclear disarmament deal with Russia (Guardian 6 Feb 2009)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/06/nuclear-disarmament-russia-us

US to let START Treaty expire (Reuters 22 May 2007)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2242996020070522?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0