U.S., Russia announce details of new nuclear arms treaty

WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia on Friday announced further major reductions in their strategic nuclear arsenals under a new arms control treaty President Barack Obama sees as a key step toward his ambitious goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

“I’m pleased to announce that after a year of intense negotiations, the United States and Russia have agreed to the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades,” Obama said in televised statement at the White House.

He said the treaty demonstrates a determination by
both countries to reverse the spread of nuclear weapons and prevent
them from falling into the hands of terrorists, while underscoring his
commitment to better ties with Moscow.

Obama made his announcement after speaking by telephone with Russian President Dmitry Medevdev. The pair will sign the accord on April 8 in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic,
where Obama last year delivered a major address outlining his strategy
for the eventual elimination of the world’s nuclear arsenals.

To advance that plan, Obama will host more than 40 nations at a two-day summit in Washington in mid-April on securing nuclear materials vulnerable to theft. Later this spring, the United States will participate in a U.N. conference on strengthening controls to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The administration plans further negotiations with Russia on cutting nuclear weapons beyond the limits mandated in the new treaty.

The 10-year accord would limit the sides, within
seven years, to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads each. This is roughly
30 percent fewer than allowed under the 2002 Treaty of Moscow, which restricts the sides to deploying no more than 2,200 strategic warheads by Dec. 31, 2013.

Under the new treaty, each side could deploy its
strategic warheads on no more than 700 intercontinental ballistic
missiles — based on land and in submarines — and long-range bombers.
They would be allowed to keep an additional 100 such “delivery
vehicles” in reserve.

The United States currently has about 2,100 strategic warheads deployed on an estimated 900 delivery systems, and Russia maintains an estimated 2,200 warheads on 600 to 700 delivery vehicles.

The new treaty restores after a four-month hiatus a
system of onsite inspections, data exchanges and other technical means
by which each side can detect cheating by the other.

It replaces a similar though more complex and
extensive verification and monitoring scheme set up by the 1991
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or START, which expired in December.

The Russian parliament and the U.S. Senate
must ratify the new accord, but it was unclear if the 41 minority
Republicans would provide the votes needed for two-thirds’ approval.
Democrats hold 57 seats and independents, who caucus with the majority
party, have two seats in the 100-seat chamber.

Republican leaders have expressed concern that the
treaty would constrain the development and deployment of strategic U.S.
missile defenses. The administration insists that the pact will not
affect missile defenses.

Republican leaders have also demanded that the administration submit to the Senate
along with the treaty a 10-year plan outlining a “sustained commitment”
to modernizing U.S. nuclear weapons facilities and ensuring that aging
U.S. weapons are safe and operate as designed two decades into a
moratorium on underground testing.

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