Obama Cuts Nuclear Deal With Russia

Less than a year after President Barack Obama called for a world without nuclear weapons, the U.S. and Russia have agreed to reduce the number of deployed nukes by more than 25 percent. The White House hopes the agreement, which will pick up where the old Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty left off, will set the stage for more ambitious cuts in the future.

After all, the new treaty would still leave 1,600 warheads deployed on each side, with thousands more in storage.

The treaty still needs to be finalized, signed by the presidents and approved by their respective legislative bodies. — PZS

New York Times:

The treaty would require each side to reduce deployed strategic nuclear warheads to roughly 1,600, down from 2,200 now, officials have said. It would also oblige each side to reduce its arsenal of strategic bombers and land- and sea-based missiles to 800, half the old limit of 1,600.

Arms control advocates consider those reductions to be relatively modest. But Mr. Obama wanted to negotiate a relatively straightforward replacement for the Start treaty as a way to rebuild trust with Moscow, leading to more ambitious agreements down the road.

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