#5 - RW 265
No need for new Russian-US nuclear arms cut treaties, says US envoy
Interfax

Moscow, 16 July: Alexander Vershbow, the US ambassador to Russia, believes that in the light of their new relations, Russia and the United States do not require any additional treaties to reduce their nuclear arsenals to the lowest level needed to ensure their national security.

Asked by Interfax whether the Russian-US Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) is final and whether there may be new treaties envisioning larger nuclear arms cuts, Vershbow said: "I do not know whether it is the last treaty on strategic arms reductions. Maybe [it is] the last one we need, because our relationship is evolving from being adversaries to being allies, and it may become less necessary to regulate our relationships through treaties of this kind." "We do not have nuclear arms treaties with the UK or France," the ambassador noted.

He recalled that the SORT treaty is intended for ten years. "I think one

should be very optimistic about where Russian-US relations would be by the end of this decade," he said. "But I think with or without treaties, we will continue to share a common interest in reducing nuclear weapons to the lowest possible level consistent with our security, our security interests," Vershbow added.

Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush signed the SORT treaty in Moscow on 24 May 2002. The document requires that the two countries reduce their strategic nuclear warheads to 1,700-2,000 by 31 December 2012. [Passage omitted.] The SORT treaty was ratified by the US Senate in early March 2003 and the Russian State Duma on 14 May. Putin and Bush exchanged instruments of ratification in St Petersburg on 1 June.

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