WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The importance of the US-Russian strategic arms control reduction treaty, or New START, is all the more significant given the decline in relations between the two countries, US Assistance Secretary of State for Arms Control Frank Rose said on Thursday.
“In light of this downturn in [US-Russia] relations, the predictability and stability that the New START Treaty provides has proven all the more important,” Rose said at the World Affairs Councils of America conference in Washington, DC.
To date, both Washington and Moscow have conducted all of their scheduled on-site inspections, and exchanged thousands of notifications on the status and location of defunct strategic nuclear forces, Rose said.
New START was enacted in 2011 to reduce the total number of US and Russian deployed nuclear warheads down to 1,550 by 2018, as well as put limitations on deployed delivery systems.
US-Russian relations suffered a steep decline in the aftermath of Crimea’s 2014 reunification with Russia.
