New Start Deal

In News

• President Vladimir Putin on Friday proposed a one-year extension without conditions of the last major nuclear arms reduction accord between Russia and the U.S.

About the New Start Deal

The New START treaty is the successor to the START I . The START II was signed, but not ratified. The START III negotiating process was not successful.

The drafting of the treaty commenced in April 2009 immediately after the meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, in London.

It was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague, and, after ratification, entered into force on 5 February 2011. It is expected to last at least until 2021.

New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was to expire in December 2012. It follows the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009; the proposed START II treaty, which never entered into force; and the START III treaty, for which negotiations were never concluded.

The treaty calls for halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers. A new inspection and verification regime will be established, replacing the SORT mechanism.

It does not limit the number of operationally inactive nuclear warheads stockpiled by Russia and the United States, a number in the high thousands.