ACA Applauds Announcement of New START Treaty Signing

For immediate release: March 26, 2010

Media contacts: Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director, (202) 463-8270 x107; Tom Z. Collina, Research Director, (202) 463-8270 x104

(Washington, D.C.) After months of negotiations, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have concluded a New START Treaty to replace the highly successful 1991 START Treaty, which expired December 5.

The New START will move both countries in the direction of deep, verifiable cuts to their bloated nuclear arsenals and replace a cornerstone of the post- Cold War international security architecture. Experts at the independent, non-partisan Arms Control Association welcome the announcement that the treaty will be signed on April 8th in Prague.

This morning, President Obama stated that with this new treaty, the U.S and Russia "intend to lead."

"By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities" Obama said.

ACA Executive Director Daryl Kimball called the New START Treaty "the first truly post-Cold War nuclear arms reduction treaty. It will verifiably limit both strategic nuclear warheads by roughly 30% below current levels and will set lower limits on strategic nuclear delivery vehicles."

"After years of neglect, efforts to limit the world's two largest nuclear arsenals will be back on track, setting the stage for future U.S.-Russian cooperation on a range of global challenges" Kimball said.

"Without the new treaty and the continuation of essential verification practices, the ability of each side to confidently assess the other's nuclear forces would significantly diminish, which would almost certainly lead to greater distrust and suspicion" said Kimball.  "We expect the Senate to carefully and expeditiously review and approve ratification of New START, which is clearly in U.S. national security interests" he added.

ACA has been at the forefront of advocacy in favor of a New START Treaty, and has provided ongoing reporting on treaty negotiations in its journal, Arms Control Today. ACA has produced a fact sheet describing the decades-long history of arms control efforts between Russia and the United States to help educate policy-makers and the public about the historical context of this new treaty.

Key Resources:

Updated ACA fact sheet on U.S.-Russian arms control agreements (PDF):
http://www.armscontrol.org/system/files/USRussiaGlance_March26_2010_0.pdf

Op-ed in The Moscow Times  "The Homestretch for START" by Daryl G. Kimball:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-homestretch-for-start/401895.html

ACA Threat Assessment Brief on START verification by Senior Fellow Greg Thielmann (PDF):
http://www.armscontrol.org/system/files/TAB_START_Verification.pdf

"Don't Stop with START" Proliferation Analysis by Daryl G. Kimball:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=24254