The implementation of the New START Treaty is well underway since it entered forced on 5th of February 2011.
From that day and every day that has followed, the Treaty has been contributing to U.S. national security.
Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller of Arms Control and Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance has stressed that New START Treaty is a bright spot in the U.S-Russian relationship.
The Treaty provides for 18 on-site inspections per year. There are two basic types of inspections. Type One inspections focus on sites with deployed and non-deployed strategic systems. Type Two inspections focus on sites with only non-deployed strategic systems. Each side is allowed to conduct ten Type One inspections and eight Type Two inspections annually.
On the Treaty’s first birthday, February 5, 2012, the process so far has been positive and pragmatic. The good working relationship both countries established during the negotiations in Geneva continues today.
Both countries are in constant communication which helps to make the process precise and efficient.
The United States and Russia kept pace with each other on inspections all year. Both countries have conducted 18 inspections, the maximum number allowed under the Treaty each year.
The New START Treaty data exchanges provide a very detailed picture of U.S. and Russian strategic forces. The inspections enable each side to confirm the validity of that data.
The United States and Russian Federation have exchanged over 1,800 New START notifications through the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers.
Both countries have exchanged information on numbers, locations, and technical characteristics of weapons systems and facilities that are subject to the Treaty. The notifications help to track movement and changes in the status of systems.
Every six months both countries exchange a comprehensive database. This gives us a full accounting of exactly where weapons systems are located, whether they are out of their deployment or operational bases and gone to maintenance, or have been retired.
Both countries have conducted three Treaty-required exhibitions.
The United States claims that when the New START Treaty is fully implemented, it will result in the lowest number of deployed nuclear warheads since the 1950s, the first full decade of the nuclear age.
Treaty responsibly limits the number of strategic nuclear weapons and launchers that the United States and Russia may deploy.
The U.S. goverment will limit the deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, SLBMs, and heavy bombers that can carry nuclear weapons will be well below previous limits.
United States do not accept or believe that US missile defense system will undermine the strategic nuclear offensive deterrent of the Russian Federation.
The Treaty represents a significant step forward in building a more stable, cooperative relationship with Russia.
