The United States has made a significant shift by publicly releasing data on its nuclear arsenal and urging Russia to do the same after Moscow announced suspending its participation in New START, their last remaining arms control.
The United States publicly released data on its nuclear arsenal Monday and pressed Russia to do the same after Moscow said it was suspending participation in New START, the last arms control treaty between the two powers.
The disclosure amounts to a quick shift by the United States. In March, The US said it would no longer share information under New START, reciprocating the move by Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has led to a nosedive in relations with the West.
Describing the data release as voluntary, the State Department said the United States had 1,419 deployed nuclear warheads as of March 1st.
The figure was down from 1,515 in March 2022 and within the 1,550 limits set by the treaty signed in 2010. Last year, Russia said it had deployed 1,474 nuclear warheads.
The US warheads are on 662 intercontinental ballistic missiles and other deployed delivery systems, down from 686 a year earlier and within the New START limit of 700. Russia reported 526 a year earlier.
The United States again said it retained a total stock of 800 delivery systems, including those not deployed, the same as a year before and the maximum allowed by the treaty.
New START, a legacy of the Cold War, was signed by former presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev at a warmer point in relations and had the dual aims of limiting nuclear weapons and increasing transparency.
In a February address on the anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was suspending participation in the treaty. However, he stopped short of withdrawing from it.
President Joe Biden extended New START, which was set to expire, by five years immediately after entering office in 2021.
The previous US administration of Donald Trump had held off on the treaty, saying it was unfair by making no demands of China, whose nuclear arsenal is significantly smaller than those of Russia and the United States but is expected to overgrow.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP.
