UN Secretary-General António Guterres has congratulated the U.S. and Russia on successfully reducing their strategic nuclear forces to the level required by a new bilateral treaty signed in 2010.
Guterres also called on both sides to engage in the necessary dialogue that would lead to further arsenal reductions.
The Secretary-General stressed that at a time when global anxieties about nuclear weapons were higher than at any time since the Cold War, efforts in nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control were more vital than ever.
“These endeavours can play significant roles in building trust and confidence, and preventing, mitigating and resolving conflicts,” the secretary-general added.
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Known as “New START,” the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms reduced deployed nuclear weapons to 700 delivery vehicles and 1,550 warheads.
It is a part of a series of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between the two nations that “have significantly reduced the dangers posed by nuclear weapons”.
Guterres said they “are steps towards the common aspiration of a world free of nuclear weapons”..
He called on the two global nuclear powers “to engage in the necessary dialogue that will lead to further arsenal reductions”.
Guterres also urged them “to continue to display the historic leadership across the multilateral disarmament agenda that has proven so valuable to our collective security”.
The new Treaty was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010 and came into force on Feb. 5, 2011.
The U.S. said it currently has 660 deployed Minuteman-III Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles, Trident-II, Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and B-2A and B-52H heavy bombers in its nuclear arsenal for deterrence.
