New START facts for kids
| Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms Договор между Российской Федерацией и Соединёнными Штатами Америки о мерах по дальнейшему сокращению и ограничению стратегических наступательных вооружений |
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| Type | Strategic nuclear disarmament |
| Drafted | 19 May – 9 November 2009 |
| Signed | 8 April 2010 |
| Location | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Effective | 5 February 2011 |
| Condition | Ratification of both parties |
| Expiration | 5 February 2026 |
| Parties |
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| Languages | English, Russian |
The New START treaty is an important agreement between the United States and Russia. Its main goal is to reduce and limit the number of powerful nuclear weapons each country has. The full name of the treaty is "Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms."
This treaty was signed on April 8, 2010, in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It officially started on February 5, 2011, after both countries agreed to it. New START took the place of an older agreement called the Treaty of Moscow. It also followed the first START treaty, which ended in 2009.
The New START treaty aims to cut the number of launchers for strategic nuclear missiles by half. It also set up new ways for each country to check on the other, making sure they follow the rules. It's important to know that this treaty does not limit the number of nuclear warheads that are stored but not ready for use.
On February 21, 2023, Russia announced that it was pausing its involvement in New START. However, Russia said it would still follow the limits on nuclear weapons set by the treaty.
Contents
Understanding the New START Treaty Limits
This treaty sets clear limits on the most powerful nuclear weapons. It helps keep the world safer by reducing the number of these weapons.
How Many Nuclear Weapons Are Allowed?
The treaty limits the number of active strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550. This is much lower than the limits in older treaties. For example, it's about two-thirds less than the original START treaty.
The total number of warheads might be a bit higher than 1,550. This is because each bomber is counted as carrying only one warhead, even if it can carry more.
The treaty also limits the number of launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers that carry nuclear weapons. The total number of these launchers, whether they are ready for use or not, is limited to 800. The number of launchers that are actually ready for use is limited to 700.
| Type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Deployed missiles and bombers | 700 |
| Deployed warheads (RVs and bombers) | 1,550 |
| Deployed and non-deployed launchers (missile tubes and bombers) | 800 |
Checking the Rules: Inspections
To make sure both sides follow the rules, the treaty allows for satellite monitoring. It also permits 18 on-site inspections each year. This means experts can visit military sites to check on the weapons.
Meeting the Goals and Treaty Length
Both the United States and Russia had seven years from when the treaty started to meet these limits. The treaty was planned to last for ten years. However, both countries can agree to extend it for up to five more years.
The treaty officially began on February 5, 2011. This happened after the U.S. Senate and the Federal Assembly of Russia both approved it. The United States even started reducing its weapons before the treaty was fully approved.
Some changes included removing at least 30 missile silos, 34 bombers, and 56 submarine launch tubes from service. Missiles that were removed could stay intact, and bombers could be changed to carry regular weapons instead of nuclear ones.
The History of New START
The New START treaty is part of a series of agreements aimed at controlling nuclear weapons.
How the Treaty Was Created and Signed
The New START treaty is the follow-up to the first START I treaty. Other attempts, like START II and START III, were not fully successful.
Work on the New START treaty began in April 2009. This was right after a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, in London.
Long discussions were held by teams from both the U.S. and Russia. The American team was led by Rose Gottemoeller, and the Russian team by Anatoly Antonov. These talks happened in cities like Moscow and Geneva.
On July 6, 2009, an agreement was announced. Presidents Medvedev and Obama signed this document during Obama's visit to Moscow. It showed that both countries planned to reduce nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 units. They also aimed to reduce the weapons that deliver them to between 500 and 1,100 units.
Finally, Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced their full agreement on March 26, 2010. They officially signed the treaty on April 8, 2010, in Prague.
How the Treaty Was Approved
For the treaty to become law, both the United States and Russia had to approve it. This process is called ratification.
United States Approval
On May 13, 2010, President Obama sent the agreement to the U.S. Senate for approval. For the treaty to pass, 67 out of 100 Senators needed to vote yes.
On September 16, 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14 to 4 to recommend approving New START. Many Senators, including some Republicans, supported the treaty.
President Obama made approving New START a top priority. On December 22, 2010, the U.S. Senate voted 71 to 26 to approve the treaty. This meant it was ready for the President to sign. Obama signed the final documents on February 2, 2011.
Russia's Approval
In Russia, President Medvedev sent the document to the State Duma (their parliament) on May 28, 2010. On July 8, the Duma committees recommended that the State Duma approve the treaty.
After the U.S. Senate approved it, the Russian State Duma held its first official vote on December 24, 2010, and approved it. They approved it again on January 14, 2011, and then for a third and final time on January 25, 2011. The vote was 350 in favor, 96 against, and one person did not vote.
The next day, the Federation Council of Russia (another part of their parliament) also approved it. On January 28, 2011, President Medvedev signed the approval.
The treaty officially started when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged the official documents in Munich, Germany, on February 5, 2011.
Important Dates and Actions After the Treaty Started
The New START Treaty set several deadlines for specific actions after it began on February 5, 2011:
- Within 5 days: Both countries had to share information about the airplanes used to transport inspectors.
- Within 25 days: Lists of initial inspectors and aircrew members were exchanged.
- Within 45 days: Databases with information on weapon systems and facilities were exchanged.
- Within 60 days: If a new type of weapon was declared, its features had to be shown and confirmed.
- After 60 days: The right to conduct inspections began. Each country could do 18 on-site inspections per year.
* Type One Inspections checked sites with active weapons. * Type Two Inspections checked sites with stored weapons or where weapons were being removed.
- Within 120 days: The U.S. showed its stored heavy bombers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
- Within 180 days: Both countries showed their equipment for playing back missile flight information.
- Within 225 days: Updated databases were exchanged, and this continued every six months.
- Within 1 year: The U.S. showed a B-1B heavy bomber that was changed to carry only non-nuclear weapons.
- Within 3 years: The U.S. showed submarines and missile silos that were changed so they could no longer launch nuclear missiles.
- Within 7 years: Both countries had to meet the main limits for nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles.
- After 10 years: The treaty was set to expire, unless both countries agreed to extend it.
Public Discussion in the United States
There was a lot of discussion in the United States about whether to approve the New START treaty. This happened around the time of the 2010 elections.
Groups like the Arms Control Association strongly supported the treaty. They argued it was important to restart on-site checks and make the relationship between the U.S. and Russia more predictable. Other groups also supported it, saying it would help make the world safer.
Many important people, including former President George H. W. Bush and six former Republican Secretaries of State, wrote articles supporting the treaty. They believed it was a good step for national security.
However, some groups, like the Heritage Action for America, were against New START. They argued that the treaty might reduce America's nuclear weapons more than Russia's. They also pointed out that the treaty did not cover smaller, "tactical" nuclear weapons, where Russia had more.
Some experts also worried that the treaty might weaken U.S. defenses or that Russia might not follow the rules. Despite these concerns, the treaty was eventually approved.
Treaty Activities and Status
Monitoring and Checking Compliance
During the talks for New START, making sure both sides followed the rules was very important. When the treaty started, both the U.S. and Russia could begin inspecting each other.
Each country is allowed 18 on-site inspections per year. These inspections are divided into two types:
- Type 1 inspections focus on military bases that have active ICBMs, SLBMs, and bombers.
- Type 2 inspections include facilities that have both active and stored weapons.
Since 2011, both countries have slowly reduced their weapons. By February 2018, both the U.S. and Russia had reached their reduction goals, staying within the treaty limits.
Information about the total numbers and locations of nuclear weapons is made public under the treaty. This helps create trust and openness between the countries.
| State | Deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers | Warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and nuclear warheads counted for deployed heavy bombers | Deployed and non-deployed launchers of ICBMs and SLBMs, and deployed and non-deployed heavy bombers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian Federation | 540 | 1549 | 759 |
| United States of America | 659 | 1420 | 800 |
Discussions About Extending the Treaty
The New START treaty was set to expire, but there have been ongoing talks about extending it.
2017 Discussions
In February 2017, when Donald Trump became U.S. President, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked about extending New START. However, Trump felt the treaty was too favorable to Russia and called it a "bad deal."
2019 Discussions
Concerns grew about extending New START after the U.S. left another treaty called the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In June, U.S. and Russian officials met to discuss arms control. They also talked about including other countries like China, France, and the United Kingdom in a future treaty.
Many members of the U.S. Congress urged the Trump administration to extend New START. They said it was important for nuclear safety. In December 2019, Putin publicly offered to extend the treaty right away without any changes.
2020 Discussions
In February 2020, the Trump administration announced plans to talk with Russia about nuclear arms control. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inspections of missile sites were temporarily stopped.
In July 2020, U.S. and Russian officials met in Vienna for more talks. The U.S. invited China to join, but China refused. Discussions continued, with the U.S. suggesting a new agreement that would cover all Russian nuclear weapons and expand monitoring.
In mid-October, Putin suggested extending the treaty for at least one year without any conditions, but Trump rejected this. Later, Russian officials agreed to a U.S. idea to pause nuclear warhead production for a year and extend the treaty by a year.
2021 Extension
On the day Joe Biden became U.S. President, Russia urged the new administration to be more cooperative about extending New START. The Biden administration quickly said it would seek a five-year extension.
On January 26, Biden and Putin agreed in a phone call to extend the treaty by five years. The Russian State Duma voted to approve the extension on January 27. On February 3, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. had formally agreed to extend the treaty until 2026.
2022 Developments
In November 2022, Russia postponed a meeting with the U.S. that was meant to discuss restarting New START inspections. The U.S. said it was ready to reschedule, as inspections are important for the treaty's stability. Russia did not give a reason for the delay, but relations between the two countries were very tense after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Suspension and What Happened Next
On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty. He stated that Russia would not allow the U.S. and NATO to inspect its nuclear sites.
Putin claimed that the United States was still developing new nuclear weapons. He warned that if the U.S. tested any nuclear weapons, Russia would develop and test its own. Putin also complained that nuclear weapons from France and Britain are not covered by the treaty.
After Putin's announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia's decision "unfortunate and very irresponsible." Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, strongly encouraged Russia to rethink its decision.
On March 29, Sergey Ryabkov of Russia announced that all notifications and activities under the treaty would be stopped. The next day, Russia performed an exercise with its Yars missile.
On June 2, the United States canceled the visas for Russian nuclear inspectors. The U.S. said this was a "lawful countermeasure" because Russia was not following the treaty rules.
See also
- 2010 NPT Review Conference
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and II)
- Treaty of Moscow (2002)
