New START was a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague, and after ratification it entered into force on 5 February 2011.
New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was to expire in December 2012. It followed 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 called for halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers. It also called for the establishment of a new inspection and verification regime, replacing the SORT mechanism. It did not limit the number of operationally inactive nuclear warheads that can be stockpiled.
On 21 February 2023, Russia suspended its participation in New START. However, it did not withdraw from the treaty, and clarified that it would continue to abide by the numerical limits in the treaty. On 5 February 2026, the treaty officially expired.
Overview
The treaty limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads for each party to 1,550, which was down nearly two-thirds from the original START treaty, as well as 10% lower than the deployed strategic warhead limit of the 2002 Moscow Treaty. The total number of deployed warheads could exceed the 1,550 limit by a few hundred because only one warhead is counted per bomber regardless of how many it actually carries. The treaty also limited the number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments to 800. The number of deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments was limited to 700. The treaty allowed for satellite and remote monitoring, as well as 18 on-site inspections per year to verify limits.
The obligations had to be met within seven years from the date the treaty entered into force. The treaty was set to last ten years, with an option to renew it for up to five years upon the agreement of both parties. The treaty entered into force on 5 February 2011, when the United States and Russia exchanged instruments of ratification, following approval by the U.S. Senate and the Federal Assembly of Russia. The United States began implementing the reductions before the treaty was ratified.
Documents made available to the U.S. Senate described removal from service of at least 30 missile silos, 34 bombers, and 56 submarine launch tubes. Missiles which were removed would stay intact, and bombers could be converted to conventional use. Four of the twenty-four launchers on each of the fourteen ballistic missile nuclear submarines would be removed, and none retired.
The treaty placed no limits on tactical systems. In July 2010, Rebecca Grant for Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that no limit was placed on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which would most likely be replacing the F-15E and F-16 in the tactical nuclear delivery role.
The treaty did not cover rail-mobile ICBM launchers because neither party possessed such systems at the time. ICBMs on such launchers would be covered under the generic launcher limits, but the inspection details for such systems would have to be worked out between the parties if such systems were reintroduced in the future.
History
Drafting and signature
The New START treaty was the successor to the START I. The START II was signed but not ratified and 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 involved, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, in London. Preliminary talks had already been held in Rome on 27 April, although it was initially planned to have them scheduled in the middle of May.
Prolonged talks were conducted by U.S. and Russian delegations, led on the American side by U.S. State Department assistant secretary Rose Gottemoeller. The Russian delegation was headed by Anatoly Antonov, director of security and disarmament at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Talks were held on:
- First round: 19–20 May 2009, Moscow
- Second round: 1–3 June 2009, Geneva, Switzerland
- Third round: 22–24 June 2009, Geneva
- Fourth round: 22–24 July 2009, Geneva
- Fifth round: 31 August – 2 September 2009, Geneva
- Sixth round: 21–28 September 2009, Geneva
- Seventh round: 19–30 October 2009, Geneva
- Eighth round: 9 November 2009, Geneva
On the morning of 6 July 2009, the agreement on the text of the "Joint Understanding on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms" was announced, which Medvedev and Obama signed during the US presidential visit to Moscow which began on the same day. The document listed the intention of both parties to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 1,500–1,675 units, as well as their delivery weapons to 500–1,100 units.
Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced on 26 March 2010 that they had reached an agreement, and they signed the treaty on 8 April 2010 in Prague.
Ratification process
United States
On 13 May, the agreement was submitted by Obama for ratification in the U.S. Senate. Ratification required 67 votes in favor (out of 100 Senators). On Tuesday, 16 September 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14–4 in favor of ratifying New START. The measure had support from three Senate Republicans: Richard Lugar of Indiana, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Johnny Isakson of Georgia. Senator John Kerry and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed optimism that a deal on ratification was near.
Republicans in the Senate generally deferred to Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a leading conservative on defense issues, who sought a strong commitment to modernize U.S. nuclear forces and questioned whether there was time for ratification during the lame-duck session, calling for an opening of the negotiation record before a vote was held. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) joined Kyl in expressing skepticism over the timing of ratification; Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) expressed opposition.
Obama made New START ratification a priority during the 2010 post-election lame duck session of Congress, and Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), the Democratic Chairman and senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were leading supporters of the treaty.
On 22 December 2010, the U.S. Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification of the treaty by a vote of 71 to 26 on the resolution of ratification. Thirteen Republican senators, all 56 Democratic senators, and both Independent senators voted for the treaty. Obama signed documents completing the U.S. ratification process on 2 February 2011.
Russia
Following ratification by the U.S. Senate, the formal first reading of the treaty was held on 24 December, and the State Duma voted its approval. The State Duma approved a second reading of the treaty on 14 January 2011. It was then approved unanimously by the Federation Council on the next day.
On 28 January 2011, Medvedev signed the ratification resolution passed by the Federal Assembly, completing the Russian ratification process. The treaty went into force when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged the instruments of ratification at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on 5 February 2011.
Deadlines
The New START Treaty required several specific actions within periods after it entered into force (EIF) on February 5, 2011:
- No later than (NLT) 5 days after EIF
- Type One Inspections focus on deployed and non-deployed SOAs sites. Activities include confirming accuracy of data on SOAs, the number of warheads located on designated deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, and the number of nuclear armaments to be on designated deployed heavy bombers.
- Type Two Inspections focus on sites with non-deployed SOAs. They can involve confirmation of the conversion/elimination of SOAs, and confirming the elimination of facilities.
U.S. public debate
A debate about whether to ratify the treaty took place in the United States during the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections and in the lame-duck congressional session afterward. While a public opinion poll showed broad support for ratification, another showed general skepticism over nuclear arms reductions.
The Arms Control Association led efforts to rally political support, arguing that the treaty is needed to restore on-site verification and lend predictability to the U.S.–Russian strategic relationship. Other organizations supporting the treaty included the Federation of American Scientists, and disarmament expert Peter Wilk of Physicians for Social Responsibility called the New START treaty "essential" to ensuring a safer world and stronger diplomatic ties with Russia.
Republican supporters included former President George H. W. Bush and all six former Republican Secretaries of State, who wrote supportive op-eds in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Conservative columnist Robert Kagan who supported the treaty, says its goals are modest compared to previous START treaties and that the treaty should not fail because of partisan disagreements. Kagan said the Republican insistence on upgrading the U.S. nuclear arsenal was reasonable but would not be affected by the current language of the treaty.
Heritage Action, an advocacy group affiliated with The Heritage Foundation, took the lead in opposing New START, lobbying the Senate along with running a petition drive and airing political advertisements before November's midterm elections. The effort drew the support of likely presidential candidate Mitt Romney and has been credited by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as changing some Republican votes. According to Edwin Feulner, then president of The Heritage Foundation, the language of the New START treaty would "definitely" reduce America's nuclear weapon capacity but "wouldn't necessarily" reduce Russia's, and Russia would maintain a 10–1 advantage in tactical nuclear weapons, which are not counted in the treaty.
Arms control experts critical of the treaty included Robert Joseph, former undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, and Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, who have written that the treaty weakens U.S. defenses. Former CIA Director James Woolsey also said that "concessions to Russian demands make it difficult to support Senate approval of the new treaty".
Senators Jon Kyl and Mitch McConnell complained about a lack of funding for the Next-Generation Bomber during the treaty debate, even though this treaty would not constrain this platform.
During the Senatorial debate over the US ratification of the New START Treaty with Russia, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) stated, "Russia cheats in every arms control treaty we have with them", which caused an uproar in Russian media. Additionally, there were concerns about the possibility of restrictions being imposed on the deployment of missile defense systems by the U.S.
The Pentagon's "Report on the Strategic Nuclear Forces of the Russian Federation Pursuant to Section 1240 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012" found that even if Russia did cheat and achieved a total surprise attack with a breakout force, it would have "little to no effect" on U.S. nuclear retaliatory capabilities.
Treaty activities and status of New START
Monitoring and verification
During the negotiations for New START, verification was one of the core tenets deliberated between the United States and the Russian Federation. When New START entered into force, both participating states could begin performing inspections on each other. Each state is granted 18 on-site inspections per year, which fall into two categories: Type 1 and Type 2 inspections. Type 1 inspections are specific to military bases that house only deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and bombers. Type 2 inspections include facilities that have non-deployed systems as well. The treaty allows only ten Type 1 and eight Type 2 inspections annually. States can also announce the arrival of an inspection team with as little notice as 32 hours. Since 2011, both states have made gradual progress in their reductions. By February 2018, both parties had reached their reduction goals well within the treaty limits.