Originally published on the CGS blog on December 4, 2009.
The US and Russia pledge to have a new nuclear missile treaty worked out very soon. Negotiators from both countries say they are very close to completing a successor to the Cold War-era agreement that has cut both countries stockpiles of nuclear weapons, START. The current START treaty, created in 1991, expires at midnight tonight, amidst ongoing negotiations for a new treaty. Kremlin sources have been optimistic that some agreement can be made while President Obama is in Europe next week to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Washington has expressed hopes of having an interim agreement in place until a new treaty can come into effect if necessary.
The details of the new agreement have not been finalized, but Obama’s National Security Advisor said both sides are “down to the last few paragraphs and sentences.” After a new treaty agreement is announced, both countries must still ratify the treaty. This process could take up to months. Even if a treaty does not fully go into effect for months, both countries have indicated their willingness to uphold current nuclear arms arrangements until the new treaty is in place using a bridge agreement.
It is encouraging to hear that both nations are presenting the negotiation of a new nuclear arms treaty in such a positive light. The Cold War is long over, and these two Cold War superpowers recognize the importance of nuclear disarmament as a matter of international security more than ever. The sooner an agreement can be reached, the more legitimate Obama’s ambitious strategy on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament becomes. Even though a new treaty will not be in place when the START treaty expires at midnight, the negotiation of an agreement, which most likely will have even deeper reductions in nuclear stockpiles than START is an accomplishment in itself.
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