New START Treaty

In News 

• Recently, Russia suspended  inspection under the new START treaty over western sanctions.

About New START Treaty

• Treaty Structure: It is Treaty between the United States of America 
  • It is a treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
  • It  enhances U.S. national security by placing verifiable limits on all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. 
  • The United States and the Russian Federation have agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.
• Strategic Offensive Limits:
  • The New START Treaty entered into force on February 5, 2011. 
  •  Under the treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation had seven years to meet the treaty’s central limits on strategic offensive arms (by February 5, 2018) and are then obligated to maintain those limits for as long as the treaty remains in force.
• Force Structure: Each Party has the flexibility to determine for itself the structure of its forces subject to the central limits.
  •  The New START Treaty gives the United States the flexibility to deploy and maintain U.S. strategic nuclear forces in a way that best serves U.S. national security interests.
  • It limits all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons, including every Russian nuclear warhead that is loaded onto an intercontinental-range ballistic missile that can reach the United States in approximately 30 minutes.
• Verification and Transparency: The treaty contains detailed procedures for the implementation and verification of the central limits on strategic offensive arms (discussed above) and all treaty obligations.

Source:HT