Weapons cuts agreed

06 July 2009

US and Russian leaders have promised to reduce their levels of nuclear arms under a new treaty to be finalised as a high priority.

 

Both countries' leaders signed a Joint Understanding document today to reduce their numbers of strategic nuclear warheads to 1500-1675 with a maximum number of 500-1100 strategic delivery vehicles. This represents a cut from 2200 strategic weapons and 1600 launch vehicles under the START treaty, which expires on 5 December.

 

President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev sign off their agreements. They said, "We share a common vision of the growth of clean, safe, secure and affordable nuclear energy for peaceful purposes" (Image: White House / Chuck Kennedy)

  

The new numbers are to be enshrined in a future follow-on to START to be concluded "at the earliest possible date." The "comprehensive, legally binding" agreement will represent what the White House called "Russian and American leadership in strengthening the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."

 

There are great hopes that the next year's NPT Review Conference will bring more progress than the last in 2005 when recognised nuclear weapons states (China, France, Russia, the USA, the UK) were widely criticised for not doing enough to destroy their nuclear arsenals. The new US-Russia disarmament deal will include "effective verification measures," while the destruction of 34 tonnes of 'surplus' weapons plutonium each is in line with NPT obligations, Obama and Medvedev noted.

  

The Presidents also reaffirmed their support for a range of nuclear cooperation tasks including the repatriation of highly-enriched uranium, the conversion of research reactors to use low-enriched uranium instead and continuous improvements in security at nuclear weapons sites.

 

"We share a common vision," read their statement, "of the growth of clean, safe, secure and affordable nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." Towards this end, the two nations are to continue researching new reactor systems as well as "methods and mechanisms for the provision of reliable nuclear fuel cycle services," including proposals for multinationally-administered nuclear fuel banks. They also want to expand opportunities for cooperation to strenghen safeguards.

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