In the continuing effort to reset relations with Russia, the Obama Administration is near agreement on a major arms control treaty to reduce long-range nuclear weapons. As this report from The Washington Post notes, the treaty is a follow-up to the expired 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and will decrease nuclear armaments but not eliminate them:
The United States and Russia have reached a deal on their most extensive nuclear arms-control agreement in nearly two decades, the Kremlin announced Wednesday. The pact appeared to represent President Obama’s first victory in his ambitious agenda to move toward a nuclear-free world. The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) would replace a 1991 pact that expired in December. Experts called the new agreement the most significant arms-control accord since the 1993 signing of START II, which the Russians never ratified. Officials in both countries would not discuss details of the new accord, but the general outlines have emerged during the year-long negotiations. Each side will reduce its most dangerous nuclear weapons — those deployed for long-range missions– from a ceiling of 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675. And the two militaries will make relatively small cuts in the number of jets and land- or submarine-based missiles that carry nuclear warheads and bombs. A Kremlin spokesman told reporters that the two countries’ presidents would talk soon to decide when to sign the pact
In this CFR interview, former Secretary of State George Shultz helps place this arms control treaty in the context of global nonproliferation efforts. He suggests that it is important for the U.S. and Russia to demonstrate that they are reducing nuclear arsenals while challenging the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.
Update 3/26/10: President Obama has officially announced the new agreement, here is video of the announcement from The Washington Post:
