U.S. To Let START Nuclear Treaty Expire

[Ryan Ruck]

U.S. To Let START Nuclear Treaty Expire

The United States plans to let a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia expire in 2009 and replace it with a less formal agreement that eliminates strict verification requirements and weapons limits, a senior U.S. official says.

This would continue President George W. Bush's practice of repudiating arms control as a means of curbing nuclear weapons while relying more on countermeasures like export controls, interdiction and sanctions.

This approach makes many arms control experts uneasy, but the Democratic-led U.S. Congress has shown little interest in the START treaty's fate. Some congressional aides say whatever Bush does, his successor -- who takes office in January 2009 -- could seek modifications.

While the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START "has been important and for the most part has done its job," Assistant Secretary of State Paula DeSutter told Reuters the pact is cumbersome and its complicated reporting standards have outlived their usefulness.

In the post-Cold war era, many provisions of the 1991 START accord, which mandated deep nuclear weapons cuts, "are no longer necessary. We don't believe we're in a place where we need have to have the detailed lists (of weapons) and verification measures," added DeSutter, who handles arms control and verification issues.

Russia agrees the treaty should not be extended but wants it replaced with another legally binding treaty that makes further cuts in strategic forces, so the two sides have significant differences.

2007 TARGET

DeSutter said concluding a START replacement pact by year's end is "one of my top priorities."

START obligated Moscow and Washington to slash deployed strategic nuclear forces from approximately 10,000 warheads each to no more than 6,000 apiece by December 5, 2001. The accord also limits each side to 1,600 delivery vehicles, like intercontinental ballistic missiles.

As of January 1, Russia reported 4,162 warheads under START, and the United States claimed 5,866 warheads but these figures are not exact because of unique treaty counting rules.

Another pact, the May 2002 Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT), commits the two sides to reduce forces to 1,700-2,200 operationally deployed warheads by the end of 2012.

After that, neither side's forces will be limited and Russia is afraid the United States, which can afford a larger arsenal, will expand its cache, experts say.

Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association said the two sides should have less than 1,500 warheads each. Asked if Washington could accept such a target, DeSutter said: "Not at this point."

Experts say the U.S. intelligence community is worried about losing the extra insight into Russia's arsenal, beyond satellite imagery, that START verification rules provide.

But DeSutter said verification provisions, like onsite inspections, have not always worked well, with Russia sometimes hiding weapons from U.S. view.

Verification is highly intrusive and expensive "but you're never going to know how many warheads they are going to have on various missiles," DeSutter said.

Despite U.S.-Russian tensions over missile defense, Washington does not see Moscow as an enemy and believes there are other ways to ensure transparency in their respective nuclear and military capabilities, she said.

Sen. Joseph Biden, Democratic candidate for president and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, said: "It's a lose-lose situation for the U.S. and Russia if START were to lapse. The last thing U.S. or Russia needs is another arms race and the START treaty helps ensure we never head down that path again."

[vector7]

		Russia
		Moscow denies Pentagon claims of 'stolen' Russian nuclear weapons
		14:37 | 31/ 10/ 2008

MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry denied on Friday claims by the U.S. defense secretary that large amounts of Russian nuclear weapons had been stolen or misplaced.

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Robert Gates expressed concern that some Russian nuclear weapons from the former Soviet arsenal may not be fully accounted for.

"I have fairly high confidence that no strategic or modern tactical nuclear weapons have leaked beyond Russian borders," Gates said.

"What worries me are the tens of thousands of old nuclear mines, nuclear artillery shells and so on, because the reality is the Russians themselves probably don't have any idea how many of those they have or, potentially, where they are," he added.

"Such allegations are entirely groundless," the ministry's press and information department said in a statement.

"Despite all the difficulties that our country faced in the early 1990s, Russia maintained very high standards of ensuring the safety and physical protection of its nuclear arsenals," the statement said.

"In this respect, we would like to reiterate that in a joint statement on nuclear security signed by the Russian and U.S. leaders in Bratislava in 2005 both sides acknowledged that the protection of nuclear facilities in both countries meets modern norms and requirements," it said.

In his remarks, Gates also supported the necessity of new talks with Moscow on further strategic arms reductions, which have been advocated by both current U.S. presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

Negotiated and signed in 1991, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is scheduled to expire on December 5, 2009. Under that accord, the United States and Russia have significantly reduced their number of nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles.

Many experts believe that if START expires without replacement verification measures, the two countries will be "flying blind" in their nuclear relations.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081031/118059563.html