START-up - The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

Recent months have witnessed the release of the US Nuclear Posture Review and the US-led international conference on nuclear security, both in April, as well as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference in May. In addition, in early May the United States declared the size of its nuclear arsenal to be 5,113 warheads, marking the first time it had ever disclosed a figure.

Contributing to this momentum, the conclusion of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the world's two largest nuclear weapons states, signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama in Prague on 8 April, marked a key milestone in nuclear disarmament agreements.

Under the terms of the new treaty, the US and Russia have committed to a reduction in deployed nuclear warheads of around 30 per cent (reducing their strategic nuclear arsenals to a limit of 1,550 warheads from the 2,200 limit imposed by the 2002 Moscow Treaty). The new START treaty will need to be approved by both the Russian Duma and the US Senate, and reductions must be achieved within seven years of the treaty entering into force.

This amounts to only a modest step in the direction of nuclear disarmament, especially given that neither side is expected to make significant changes to its current nuclear weapons programmes. However, the more significant aspect of the agreement is that it confirms Russian and US commitment to nuclear disarmament generally and creates a legal framework that could support further reductions in future, strengthening the level of accountability and transparency between the two military powers.