New START Treaty

Scott Ritter: Reimagining Arms Control After Ukraine

March 1, 2023 Scott Ritter, Consortium News. Educate! Arms Control, NATO, New START Treaty, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

The U.S. withdrawal from the foundational Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty in 2002 undid the functional and theoretical premise of mutually assured destruction (MAD) that provided logical equilibrium to the fundamentals of nuclear deterrence theory. Similarly, the Trump administration’s precipitous termination of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019 attacked both elements of the “trust but verify” maxim that governed issues of compliance verification that made arms control viable in the first place. The last remaining arms control agreement that places limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of both the U.S. and Russia is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Arms Control Or Ukraine?

February 23, 2023 Scott Ritter, Consortium News. Educate! New START Treaty, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

Russia experts and national security specialists will be poring over the text of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address on Tuesday for some time to come, trying to divine hidden meaning. The fact is, however, Putin’s speech was something rarely heard in Western political circles —unvarnished statements of fact, set forth in a straightforward, surprisingly easy-to-understand manner. In a world where Western politicians regularly dissemble to shape perception, even if the underlying “facts” are not true (one need only refer to President Joe Biden’s infamous phone call with former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in July 2021, for an example), Putin’s speech was a breath of fresh air — no hidden agendas, no false pretense — no lies.

President Putin Announces Suspension Of The New START Treaty

February 22, 2023 Dave DeCamp, AntiWar.com. Educate! New START Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that Moscow is suspending its participation in New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia. “In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” Putin said in a state of the nation address delivered to Russia’s Federal Assembly. New START was first signed in 2010 by then-President Obama and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, and replaced the START I Treaty that was signed in 1991.

US-Russia Nuclear Treaty Only First Step In Ensuring ‘Future Existence’ Of Humanity

February 2, 2021 Mohamed Elmaazi, Sputnik News. Educate! New START Treaty, Nuclear Ban Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, Russia

The total number of nuclear weapons both Russia and the US could possess was limited by New START, signed between the two countries in 2010. The treaty would have expired on 5 February 2021, had the Biden administration not agreed to extend it for another five years. Peter Kuznick is a professor of history at American University, where he founded the Nuclear Studies Institute. He has authored and co-authored numerous books, including The Untold History of the United States, Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese and American Perspectives and Nuclear Power and Hiroshima: The Truth Behind the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power.

US Proposes 5-year Extension Of Nuclear Arms Treaty With Russia

January 27, 2021 Al Jazeera. Educate! New START Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Wars and Militarism

The United States will seek a five-year extension of the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia – the last remaining non-proliferation treaty between the two nations, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Thursday. The New START, which came into force in 2011, limits the number of nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles that each country can deploy. It was due to expire next month. “The president has long been clear that the New START Treaty is in the national security interest of the United States. This extension makes even more sense when the relationship with Russia is adversarial as it is at this time,” Psaki told reporters during a briefing.

The Significance Of The Nuclear Ban Treaty

October 28, 2020 Mohamed Elmaazi, World Beyond War. Educate! New START Treaty, Nuclear Ban Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations

The NPT has been lived up to to a surprising extent by the non-nuclear powers. It is amazing that more countries have not gone the nuclear path. The world is fortunate that more haven’t made that leap at a time when, according to El Baradei, at least 40 countries have the technological capability of doing so. The ones who are guilty of violating it are the five original signatories–the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France. They have completely ignored Article 6, which requires the nations possessing nuclear arsenals to reduce and eliminate those arsenals.

Hopes Rise Of Extension Of New START Arms Control Treaty

October 22, 2020 People's Dispatch. Create! New START Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, Russia

The hope for the extension of the New Strategic Arms Control Treaty (START) was revived on Tuesday, October 20, after Russia offered freezing the number of its nuclear warheads in a statement, along with a one-year extension of the deal. The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that, “Russia offers to extend the New START by one year and is ready to take on a political commitment with the United States to freeze the number of nuclear warheads both sides have for this period.” The US state department immediately welcomed the offer and declared that negotiations to settle the details will start soon.

New START And The China Diversion

May 17, 2020 Daniel Larison, The American Conservative. Educate! Arms Race, China, New START Treaty, Nuclear Weapons

The effort to bring China into an arms reduction treaty certainly is futile. Not only is China not going to participate in arms control negotiations with the U.S. anytime soon, but even if China were persuaded to participate the limits set by New START would allow China to increase its nuclear arsenal many times over while still remaining in compliance. It makes no sense to press another government to join an arms reduction treaty when that government currently possesses a fraction of the number of weapons that the treaty permits. There is no compelling reason to add China to an existing arms control agreement when their nuclear forces are much smaller than ours. One might as well insist that Pakistan or Israel join the treaty. It is obvious that the administration has never been serious about extending New START.

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