The United States government has not been able to determine if Russia complied last year with treaty obligations to limit deployed nuclear warheads and believes it "may have exceeded" the numbers allowed, according to a report to Congress.
The Russian Federation's limit for deployed warheads on delivery vehicles, subject to the New START Treaty, is 1,550, because it failed to fulfill obligations with the treaty's verification, according to the report, issued by the State Department last Friday.
While the United States believes "with high confidence" that Russia didn't engage in large-scale activity over the limits of the agreement, Russia was "probably close" to the limit for most of the year and "may have exceeded the deployed warhead limit by a small number during portions of 2024," the report added. "Therefore, this constitutes a serious compliance concern."
The United States and Russia signed the New START nuclear arms reduction agreement in 2010. Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended his country's participation in the agreement two years ago. The treaty is to expire in February 2026, Newsweek reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the State Department said that there is no strategic imbalance between the United States and Russia that would endanger U.S. national security interests.
"The United States retains a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal that is sufficient to deter strategic attack, assure allies and partners, and respond in the event of adversary attack," the report to Congress said. "The Russian Federation’s noncompliance with the New START Treaty further underscores the vital importance of retaining and modernizing a safe, secure, and effective U.S. nuclear deterrent and achieving a resilient and adaptive nuclear security enterprise."
According to the most recent data from Russia, which was current as of September 2022, Russia had 1,549 deployed nuclear warheads, which was one below the treaty limit at that time.
The United States, meanwhile, had 1,420 deployed warheads that month and 1,419 as of March 2023.
The limits include warheads on deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Meanwhile, Washington stopped providing updated nuclear data, as required under the treaty, after March 2023, saying the decision was reached to counteract Russia's ongoing violations of the agreement.
According to the Energy Department, the United States stockpile contained a total of 3,748 operational and nonoperational nuclear warheads.
The number represents an 88% reduction in the stockpile from a high of 31,255 at the end of the 1967 fiscal year, as well as an 83% decrease from the 22,217 warheads the United States had when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Energy Department report added.
The United States also dismantled 12,088 nuclear warheads between fiscal years 1994-2023, including 405 warheads since Sept. 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, another 2,000 nuclear warheads are retired and awaiting dismantlement, and the number of U.S. non-strategic nuclear weapons declined by more than 90% since Sept. 30, 1991, the records show.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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