Thursday, December 03, 2009
RS-24, Russia's latest ICBM
Since the end of the Cold War, a small group of American arms control inspectors has been stationed in Votkinsk, Russia, to verify how many new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are produced by the United States’ former adversary. But as of this Saturday (December 5), when the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) expires, these inspectors will be packing their bags and heading home for the United States, where Democrats and Republicans are already blaming each other for this development in U.S.-Russian arms verification.
Republicans claim President Barack Obama dropped the ball in October when he met with Russian leaders and didn’t insist on a new agreement that would have allowed American inspectors to remain outside the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, where all Russian ICBMs are built. GOP aides are warning that Russia will now be able to produce hundreds of new missiles without the U.S. really knowing how many are out there.
Democrats, meanwhile, are pointing the finger at the previous administration, saying that President George W. Bush agreed with Moscow late last year to allow START to end and not negotiate an extension for the American inspectors to remain in place.
Independent arms control experts say the absence of on-site evaluations at the Russian plant does not necessarily mean the U.S. can’t verify missile production through other means, such as spy satellites. Russia’s inspectors in the U.S. left years ago after Washington decided to stop building new ICBMs for American silos.
President Obama intends to negotiate a new treaty with Russia that will replace START and reduce the number of strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
U.S. to Stop Counting New Missiles in Russia (by Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times)
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