1-Nov-2019: Russia says it's already too late to replace new START treaty
Russia said there was no longer enough time left for Moscow and Washington to negotiate a full-fledged replacement for the New START nuclear arms control treaty before it expires in February 2021.
The New START accord is the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers and limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads they can deploy. The fate of the accord has been in the spotlight since Washington in August pulled out of another landmark strategic arms accord, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), citing violations by Russia that Moscow denies.
The treaty can be extended by mutual agreement, but the prospect of that happening is unclear as Washington is not moving quickly and Moscow would need at least half a year to implement any extension agreement. Talks between the United States and Russia had been complicated by Washington proposing that China be made a party to a new accord.
The INF treaty was negotiated by then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It banned land-based missiles with a range of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500-5,500 km), reducing the ability of both countries to launch a nuclear strike on short notice.
The demise of the INF treaty put strains on the global arms control architecture erected during the Cold War to prevent an arms race between Washington and Moscow. Last year President Vladimir Putin announced an array of new-generation nuclear-powered missiles. Three of those weapons systems, including the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, did not fall under the new START treaty.
President Donald Trump will decide only next year whether or not to extend the New START treaty. The existing accord was signed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, in 2010. It also curbs the number of nuclear launchers and deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers they can have.
8-Jun-2019: Russia prepared to drop START nuclear arms treaty
President Vladimir Putin said Russia was prepared to drop a nuclear weapons treaty with the US and warned of "global catastrophe" if Washington keeps dismantling an international arms control regime. Washington showed no genuine interest in conducting talks on extending the New START treaty which caps the number of nuclear warheads well below Cold War limits. If no-one feels like extending the agreement - New START - well, we won't do it then. We have said a hundred times that we are ready (to extend it). There is no formal negotiating process.
The treaty was signed by US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Prague in 2010. It expires in 2021. Together with another agreement known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, New START is considered a centrepiece of superpower arms control.
Moscow suspended participation in the INF treaty in March after President Donald Trump's White House announced it would ditch the key agreement for alleged Russian violations of the terms. Putin accused Washington of eroding the global arms control regime by pulling out of the bilateral Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and then dropping out of the INF treaty in February.
Putin said the potential implications of letting New START treaty expire would be huge, suggesting it could fuel a nuclear arms race.
"We believe that a decision to forego the benefits of New START by failing to extend the agreement would be a serious mistake for strategic stability and US security," said the letter signed by eight lawmakers including Eliot Engel, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
At the same time, the Russian president said Moscow would not be afraid of shelving the treaty because it was developing a new generation of weapons that will "ensure Russia's security" in the long term.