The break-up of the Soviet Union was followed by political and economic turmoil in Russia and 14 other Soviet successor states. U.S. officials and congressional leaders developed CTR and nonproliferation programs in response to several issues.

• The United States feared that Russia and other Soviet successor states would have difficulties in fulfilling their commitments under START I within the time limits specified by that treaty.
• The United States and others feared that because of this turmoil, thousands of tons of Soviet nuclear weapons material were not being adequately secured against theft and diversion.
• Former Soviet scientists were not receiving their salaries, creating concern that they might sell their knowledge and skills to states or organizations seeking WMD.

U.S. assistance programs were originally concentrated in the states that inherited Soviet WMD capabilities — Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. Today, however, they are focused primarily on Russia, where the most serious challenges remain.

Of critical importance, these U.S. activities provided assistance that helped persuade Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine to transfer to Russia all of the Soviet nuclear warheads left on their territories when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. All such warheads were transferred to Russia by 1996. The United States has also assisted these countries in the elimination of strategic nuclear delivery systems, such as strategic bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their associated launch silos. Most of this work was completed by 2001.