Russian parliament ratifies new arms reduction pact with U.S.
Jan. 27, 2011
Russia's upper house of parliament ratified a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States on Wednesday, clearing the final hurdle for its entry into force soon.
The Federation Council unanimously passed a bill necessary for ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in April 2010.
The pact will replace the 1991 arms reduction accord, or START I, which expired in December 2009. Its approval came one day after it was passed by the lower house of parliament.
Once the treaty comes into effect, both sides will have to reduce within seven years their nuclear warheads on deployed missiles and bombers to 1,550 each, down from 6,000 under START 1 and between 1,700 and 2,200 under the 2002 strategic offensive reductions treaty, commonly known as the Moscow Treaty.
Aside from limiting the number of warheads, the new START caps the number of launchers to 800, half of the 1,600 allowed under START 1, and also restricts the number of deployed nuclear delivery systems to 700.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Jan. 26, 2011)
The Federation Council unanimously passed a bill necessary for ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in April 2010.
The pact will replace the 1991 arms reduction accord, or START I, which expired in December 2009. Its approval came one day after it was passed by the lower house of parliament.
Once the treaty comes into effect, both sides will have to reduce within seven years their nuclear warheads on deployed missiles and bombers to 1,550 each, down from 6,000 under START 1 and between 1,700 and 2,200 under the 2002 strategic offensive reductions treaty, commonly known as the Moscow Treaty.
Aside from limiting the number of warheads, the new START caps the number of launchers to 800, half of the 1,600 allowed under START 1, and also restricts the number of deployed nuclear delivery systems to 700.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Jan. 26, 2011)
