START I

START ( Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in English, German Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ) is a disarmament agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union or Russia for joint gradual reduction of strategic delivery systems for nuclear weapons.

The calls to this treaty on the reduction of strategic weapons were designated Strategic Arms Reduction Talks and also abbreviated as START.

START I

START I was originally initiated in 1982 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and signed on 31 July 1991, five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union by his successor, George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The agreement provided for a reduction of 1,600 carrier systems with maximum allowable 6,000 nuclear warheads, also halving the heavy Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM ) SS- 18 Satan and an upper limit of 4,900 nuclear warheads on ICBMs and SLBMs for both sides. Other agreements related verification measures, for example, to encrypt the transmitted telemetry data on-site inspections and a ban, during test flights of missiles.

Only after the end of the Soviet Union, START I entered into force on 5 December 1994 and by an additional protocol applies the rules of the Treaty in the USA, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The latter three countries have since completely disarmed their nuclear weapons.

After the beginning of the 1990s, a further agreement, START II loomed, START was renamed START I. End of December 2009, the START I treaty expired.

START II

START II was signed by George Bush for the U.S. and Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation on January 3, 1993. The successor to START I required the deactivation of all land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple warheads MIRV. To ensure that all Russian SS -18 Satan and American Peacekeeper missiles had to be destroyed. In addition, the reduction of strategic nuclear warheads was agreed by 2003 to a maximum of 3000-3500 per page. START II but kept the actual destruction of the removed from the carrier systems, warheads and also not limited the storage of warheads.

This historic agreement took its beginning on 17 June 1992 with the signing of the so-called Joint Understanding. The official signing of the agreement by the presidents took place on 3 January 1993. The ratification by the U.S. Senate took place on 26 January 1996 with a majority of 87 votes to 4. The Russian Duma, however, delayed the implementation of several years due to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Kosovo, and NATO 's eastward expansion. In addition, the contract would have increased spending on arms for Russia means to the recent intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBM) with steerable warheads ( MIRV ) outsource or to upgrade to sea-based SLBMs and ICBMs simple with only one warhead.

1997, both sides tried again not to fail through agreements START II. Thus, the performance of the contract and the disarmament measures contained therein by 5 years, 2002 was extended to the end of 2007. In addition, discussions should start on the conclusion of START III to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 2,000 to 2,500 after the entry into force of START II. Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty of ( SORT) was later closed instead.

However, both parties subsequently lost through their interest in the contract. The most important point for the United States was the modification of the ABM Treaty, which should allow them to build a defense system against ballistic missiles - an action that Russia faces clearly negative. On 14 April 2000 START II was finally ratified by the Duma, however. , Under the condition of the fate of the U.S. in the ABM Treaty However, the United States announced the ABM Treaty little later, so START II is not entered into force.

The SORT agreement was adopted by George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin at their summit meeting in November 2001 and signed at the Moscow summit on 24 May 2002. Both sides agreed to unilaterally reduce the warheads instead of the conclusion of START II. However, it is SORT refers unlike START II is not on carrier systems, but only on usable warheads. Not recorded, and therefore need not be disarmed those warheads that are stored or maintained. In addition SORT contains no verification mechanism and no detailed timetable.

New START

In his speech in Prague on 5 April 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced to continue the started at the G20 London summit disarmament talks with Russia, and in 2009 to negotiate a new treaty to reduce strategic nuclear weapons. This promise has been taken up with the declaration on non-proliferation of the G8 summit in L' Aquila, where President Obama also announced a summit on the global nuclear safety for March 2010.

On 26 March 2010 declared Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the number of nuclear weapons will be further limited. On 8 April 2010, the two presidents signed in Prague the valid 2020 New START Treaty on measures for further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. This looks from the ratification of the Treaty for the next seven years before a reduction in the number of warheads on each of 2200 and 1550, the number of vehicle systems from 1600 to 800. The deployment of 14 Ground -Based Interceptors at Fort Greely in Alaska and four other on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are not subject to the limitation of the contract.

The United States Senate ratified the START agreement on December 22, 2010. U.S. President Obama was going to rely on the support of the Republican Party since the ratification a two-thirds majority was necessary. The Russian Duma, which had announced its approval prior to the decision of the U.S. Senate ratified the agreement on January 25, 2011. With the approval of the Russian Federation Council of the ratification process on January 26, 2011 have been completed. With the exchange of instruments of ratification by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the Munich Security Conference of the Treaty entered into force on February 5, 2011. On February 11, 2013 want to renegotiate the START agreement, U.S. President Obama announced.