Putin signs bill ratifying arms reduction treaty with US

The Times of India ^ | June 07 2003

[knighthawk]

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the ratification bill for a sweeping nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

The Treaty of Moscow, signed by Putin and US President George W Bush in May 2002, requires each country to reduce their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds, to 1,700 to 2,200 warheads, by 2012.

The US Senate ratified the treaty in March, but the Russian parliament postponed ratification because of Moscow's opposition to the US-led war in Iraq. Both houses of parliament finally approved the accord last month at Putin's urging, and Putin and Bush formally exchanged ratification documents at their summit on Sunday.

Critics of the agreement say it lacks teeth because it allows each country to stockpile warheads instead of destroying them. It also allows Russia to retain Soviet-built missiles equipped with multiple nuclear warheads. They were to be scrapped under the earlier START II arms reduction treaty, which Russia never ratified.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[rmmcdaniell]

Critics of the agreement say it lacks teeth because it allows each country to stockpile warheads instead of destroying them. It also allows Russia to retain Soviet-built missiles equipped with multiple nuclear warheads. They were to be scrapped under the earlier START II arms reduction treaty, which Russia never ratified.

I remembered reading somewhere that we were going to actually destroy our weapons instead of stockpiling them even though the stockpiling option is in the treaty. Can someone who's familiar with this provide the information? Also why is it that the Russians specifically can keep missles with multiple warheads? Are we prohibited?