START Treaty Final Reductions Achieved

The United States and the Russian Federation have successfully reduced their strategic nuclear arsenals from more than 10,000 warheads to 6,000 under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), Secretary of State Colin Powell says.

In a statement issued December 5, Powell said that Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have completely eliminated or removed their nuclear arsenals, and the Treaty's final ceilings have been met.

"We are now in a different era. The Soviet Union is gone and the U.S. and Russia are no longer adversaries," Powell said. "As we cooperate in building this new strategic relationship and as we move beyond the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, we will make further reductions in strategic nuclear forces."

The text of Secretary Powell's December 5 statement follows:

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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL

On the Achievement of the Final Reductions under the START Treaty

Today we mark an important milestone in dismantling the legacy of the Cold War. For the past seven years, under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the United States and the Russian Federation have been reducing their strategic nuclear arsenals, while all strategic weapons on the territories of Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan have been removed or eliminated. The Treaty's final ceilings came into effect today, and they have been met.

When President Reagan launched the START negotiations in 1983, the United States and the USSR each had more than 10,000 deployed strategic warheads. Today, all the former Soviet States except the Russian Federation are free of nuclear weapons, and the U.S. and Russia have cut their arsenals nearly in half to a level of 6,000 deployed warheads each.

We are now in a different era. The Soviet Union is gone and the U.S. and Russia are no longer adversaries. As we cooperate in building this new strategic relationship and as we move beyond the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, we will make further reductions in strategic nuclear forces. At his summit with President Putin last month, President Bush announced plans for much deeper cuts over the next decade in America's operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads, and President Putin said he would reciprocate. Construction of a broader strategic framework for cooperation with Russia is well along, and START's effective verification procedures remain in operation and will provide transparency and confidence as we carry out these newly pledged reductions.

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