What is New START Treaty?

About New START Treaty:

• It is known as The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
• It is the last remaining nuclear arms deal between Russia and the United States of America, and it was extended for five years in 2021.
• Objective: The New START caps the number of nuclear warheads well below Cold War limits. 

What is the timeline of this treaty?

• New START continues the bipartisan process of verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals begun by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
• The treaty was signed by US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Prague in 2010.
• New START replaced the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, and superseded the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which terminated when New START entered into force.
• Both Russia and the United States announced that they met New START limitations by Feb. 5, 2018.
• Importance: New START is the first verifiable U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty to take effect since START I in 1994.

 

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 Q1) What are nuclear weapons?

A nuclear weapon is a device that uses a nuclear reaction to create an explosion. This explosion is much more powerful than that of conventional explosives.

Source: Russia decides to suspend participation in the New START treaty for nuclear arms control with US