Today, February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech before the Federal Assembly. The Russian autocrat raised many populist issues, including " There were also words like " However, there were also statements that carried not only populist significance, but also practical ones..
One of them was a statement that "
As the name implies, this treaty approves certain restrictions on the use by signatory countries of strategic offensive weapons, which are nuclear missiles of all types based.
History of the agreement.
The New START Treaty (START III) is a continuation of similar START agreements. It was the last existing treaty between Washington and Moscow that regulated the use of nuclear weapons by countries that had them..
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The START-I Treaty was concluded between the USSR, as a subject, and the USA on July 31, 1991 in Moscow. It should be added that the document entered into force on December 5, 1994 - after the collapse of the USSR and the transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia, which were previously in service in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The first signatories were Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George W. Bush..
The new document limited the maximum number of nuclear charges in service with both countries.. It received a ceiling of 6000 units. December 6, 2001. , after monitoring and auditing, it was announced that Russia and the United States fully complied with all obligations under the agreement.
Already in 1993. the heads of the two states Boris Yeltsin and the same George W. Bush signed the START II Treaty. This agreement provided for a reduction by January 1, 2003. number of nuclear warheads up to 3500 units. In particular, the number of less than 1750 ballistic missiles on nuclear submarines was registered..
Until today, the third treaty, START III, was in force.. The agreement was signed by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama on April 8, 2010 in Prague and entered into force on February 5, 2011.
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What does the document provide?
The new document provided for the reduction of deployed nuclear warheads to 1550 units in each of the parties.. At the same time, up to 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles of submarines and heavy bombers. The contract was designed for 10 years with the possibility of extension for the next 5 years..
Agreement expired February 5, 2021. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law called " It was this agreement that was replaced by a new treaty, which, logically, should have been called START-IV.
US President Joe Biden, in turn, announced his decision to extend the treaty on February 5, 2021.. Thus, both countries pledged to control nuclear weapons at the same level, without any new obligations..
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However, today, February 21, in his message to the federal assembly, Putin announced the suspension of Russia's participation in the treaty. This allows you to start building up nuclear weapons without any control and obligations..
Criticism.
It should be noted that the latest treaty, START III, was repeatedly criticized for the ineffectiveness of the norms and obligations prescribed in it.. In particular, the following points are highlighted:.
The order of constant mutual checks was not stipulated;
The treaty did not require a permanent reduction in armaments - warheads could be placed in storage and later restored;
The contract required reduction to the agreed level no earlier than the contract expiration date, December 31, 2012;
Each side was free to choose any number of strategic nuclear warheads in its forces that it considered necessary..
After today's statements by Vladimir Putin, it became clear that Russia is not going to comply with the preliminary agreements and plans to expand its nuclear arsenal to a level unknown at the moment. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has already responded to Putin's statement. Senior official says nuclear arms control architecture is broken.