Senators Call for Talks on START

By Jon Fox
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The top lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called yesterday for the presidents of the United States and Russia to solidify some sort of follow-on agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (see GSN, June 19).

When the START agreement expires in 2009, the verification measures that would have been used to verify the bilateral reduction of U.S. and Russian arsenals under the 2002 Moscow Treaty to between 1,700 and 2,200 missiles could disappear.

Under the 1991 pact, the United States and Russia agreed to reduce the number of deployed warheads to less than 6,000 each with no more than 1,600 delivery vehicles.  The treaty allows inspectors from both countries to verify deployment of strategic warheads by the other nation.

Senators expressed their hope that the issue would be raised when U.S. President George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin meet on July 1-2 in Kennebunkport, Maine.

“I urge the presidents to solidify new areas of cooperation on weapons of mass destruction,” said Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the committee.

Lugar called for an extension of the START agreement’s “verification and transparency elements” and suggested the addition of legally binding verification elements to the 2002 Moscow agreement.

“Unfortunately, some bureaucrats on both sides are balking at such efforts in favor of less formal language that is not legally binding.” Lugar said.  “The current U.S. policy is at odds with the Bush administration’s assurances to Congress during consideration of the Moscow Treaty.”

Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.) noted that “Russia is the only other state in the world with enough nuclear weapons and delivery capacity to wipe us out and any other nation.”

Biden said it would be “the single greatest negative legacy this administration could leave” if it fails to work out a successor to the START agreement.

“The current Russian-American relationship is complicated enough without introducing more elements of uncertainty into the nuclear relationship,” Lugar said.

Lugar also called for the two nations to “come together to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”  While other matters should be on the agenda at the Kennebunkport meeting,  he said, “weapons of mass destruction remain the No. 1 national security threat to the United States and Russia.”

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who was testifying before the committee, said he would take the senators’ “strong views” back to his State Department colleagues.

“I can only add that we take seriously the need for post-START arrangements that will make both sides believe that they are better off,” he said.  “We’re working with the Russians now, working through the details.”

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