US releases nuclear warhead stats, presses Russia on New START Treaty

US releases nuclear warhead stats, presses Russia on New START Treaty
by Darryl Coote
Miami FL (UPI) May 16, 2023

The United States released statistics on the size of its nuclear weapons arsenal Monday as it tries to coerce Russia to live up to its New START Treaty obligations.

In effect since 2011, the New START Treaty seeks to improve national security by limiting the nuclear weapons of the two most heavily nuclear-armed nations on the planet.

Both Moscow and Washington extended the treaty five years in early 2021, but President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia's participation in the agreement in February, days before the grim one-year anniversary of its war in Ukraine on accusations that the United States and its allies were escalating the conflict.

Under the agreement, both nations are obligated to exchange data on the size of their nuclear arsenal semi-annually, with Russia failing to do so in March and the United States mirroring Moscow seemingly in retaliation.

On Monday, the State Department said it had 1,419 deployed nuclear warheads, 800 deployed and non-deployed delivery systems and 662 deployed ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers.

The number of deployed nuclear warheads shows a significant drop from the 1,515 that the State Department reported in March of 2022 when it also had 686 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers and 800 delivery systems.

"The United States continues to view transparency among nuclear weapon states as extremely valuable for reducing the likelihood of misperception, miscalculation and costly arms competitions," the State Department said Monday in a statement, adding that it has in recent years "taken many steps to strengthen transparency, predictability and stability in the nuclear space."

"The United States calls on the Russian Federation to comply with its legally binding obligations by returning to full implementation of the New START Treaty and all the stabilizing transparency and verification measures contained within it."

In March 2022, the last time Russia published figures, Moscow declared it had 1,474 deployed nuclear warheads, 761 deployed and non-deployed delivery systems and 526 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers.

Under the New START Treaty, the countries are limited to 1,550 nuclear warheads, 800 delivery systems and 700 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers.

Source: United Press International