Republican senators introduce bill calling for US withdrawal from New START treaty

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - A group of Republican US senators on Thursday urged the Biden administration to withdraw from the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and introduced a bill titled the "No START Treaty Act."

The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and co-sponsored by Senators James Risch of Idaho, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, seeks to bolster the US nuclear forces while imposing constraints on forthcoming arms control discussions.

“The New START Treaty handcuffed America while (Russian President) Vladimir Putin has taken advantage of the treaty’s flaws for years. President Biden should never have extended this treaty that has only made Russia and China stronger and America weaker. We should withdraw from the treaty and bolster our nuclear forces,” Cotton said in a press release.

Risch said the Biden administration's decision to extend the New START Treaty with Russia "constrained the United States, failed to make America and its allies safer, left the Chinese free to undertake a breathtaking buildup of strategic nuclear weapons systems, and allowed Russia to threaten to use its massive arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine".

"Our legislation will correct these mistakes by conditioning future arms control agreements with Russia to include all classes of nuclear weapons as well as China. We must be prepared for a strategic environment in which the United States faces two nuclear peers – China and Russia," Risch said.

Signed in 2010 and extended in 2021 for another five years, the New START Treaty aims to control and reduce strategic nuclear forces used by the US and Russia.

In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law suspending Moscow's participation in the New START due to Washington's involvement in Ukraine war.

The treaty limits the number of deployed missiles and bombers to 700, deployed warheads (including multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles and bombers) to 1,550, and deployed and non-deployed launchers – missile tubes and bombers – to 800.

Under the treaty, the sides may request information about up to five launches of missiles per year, should exchange information on the number of warheads and carriers twice a year – in March and September – and have the right to carry out up to 18 inspections per year.