SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Major nuclear treaties between Moscow, Washington
Paris, Oct 22 (AFP) Oct 22, 2018
Moscow and Washington have signed a string of key treaties aimed at reducing nuclear weapons, including the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw from.

Here is a summary of these pacts:


- Two multilateral treaties -


In August 1963, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in Moscow, banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.

This was followed by the landmark Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), under which nuclear powers agreed not to assist other states in obtaining or producing nuclear weapons.

In force since 1970, the NPT was extended in 1995 for an indefinite period.


- Obsolete bilateral accords -


In May 1972, Moscow and Washington signed SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) and the ABM (Antiballistic Missile Treaty).

SALT I froze for five years the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels. The ABM, meanwhile, banned the Soviet Union and the US from deploying missile shields.

In June 1979, the powers signed SALT II to set limits on the number of strategic bombers and launchers. But the pact was never applied.

In July 1991, the two countries agreed to cut their warheads over a period of seven years with the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009.

Another pact, known as START II, was signed in January 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union with the aim to further reduce each side's strategic arsenal. But it never came into force.

When the US in 2002 withdrew from the ABM Treaty, Russia withdrew from START II.

The same year, the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), commonly known as the Moscow Treaty, was signed to cap the number of nuclear warheads.


- Two bilateral treaties in force -


SORT was replaced in April 2010 by the new START treaty, which allowed Russia and the US a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads -- about 30 percent lower than the limit imposed under the 2002 pact.

The accord, which also includes reciprocal checks, is up for renewal in 2021.

The INF agreement, from which Trump wants to withdraw, was created in December 1987. It bans missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 kilometres).

Trump has accused Russia of not respecting the accord.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
ICE-CSIC leads a pioneering study on the feasibility of asteroid mining
NASA JPL Unveils Rover Operations Center for Moon, Mars Missions

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Thorium plated steel points to smaller nuclear clocks
Solar ghost particles seen flipping carbon atoms in underground detector
Overview Energy debuts airborne power beaming milestone for space based solar power

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.