Publication

The New START Treaty, signed by presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in April 2010, was an important achievement. It committed both countries to substantial reductions in their nuclear arsenals. Both countries are now limited to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads—far below the Cold War peak of 31,000 in the United States alone. Moreover, the treaty is just one of several recent examples of U.S.-Russia collaboration on nuclear issues. In just the past two years, the former adversaries also finalized an agreement on plutonium disposal and imposed UN sanctions against Iran in reaction to its nuclear program.