Russia and US Exchanged Data on Number of Strategic Offensive Weapons

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow and Washington exchanged notifications in September on the number of strategic offensive weapons under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"Information on the total quantities of strategic offensive weapons of Russia and the United States is given on the basis of the notifications provided for by the New START treaty, which the parties exchanged in September 2022 in accordance with paragraph 2 of Section II of Chapter Four of the Protocol to the Treaty," the ministry said in a release.

It also gave the total number of strategic offensive weapons of Russia and the United States as of September 1.

The number of strategic offensive weapons claimed by the United States does not take into account 41 heavy bombers B-52H, as well as other weapons that must be taken into account in accordance with the agreement, it noted.

"The number of strategic offensive arms declared by the United States does not take into account the 41 heavy bombers B-52H, which were declared converted by the US side, and the nuclear warheads counted behind them, as well as 56 launchers of SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) Trident-II, which are declared converted by the US side," the ministry said.

In addition, four ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) silo launchers, which the US has renamed "training silos," are also not taken into account.

"The Russian side cannot confirm that these strategic offensive arms have been made unsuitable for the use of nuclear weapons by heavy bombers and SLBMs, as provided for in paragraph 3 of Section I of Chapter Three of the Protocol to the Treaty, and also objects to the arbitrary reclassification of silos of ICBMs intended for training, in the category of 'training silos' provided for by the agreement in order to exclude them from the calculation," it said.

Signed in 2010, the New START is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between Russia and the US, which aims at halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers. It was set to expire last year, however, the two sides managed to find a common ground and approved a prolongation of the accord for five more years without renegotiating any of its terms.