The U.S. Senate voted 71-26 on Dec. 22, 2010, to ratify New START. Then-Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, left, opposed the strategic arms treaty.
With the looming demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty , New START remains one of the last — and the most important — bilateral arms control agreements still in effect between the United States and Russia. Signed in 2010, New START regulates and limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads and their delivery systems. It was built upon a relatively stable foundation of similar treaties between Moscow and Washington, with both sides keen to pursue limits to their most destructive weapons arsenals . Aside from occasional squabbles over perceived breaches of compliance, New START is traditionally viewed as being in better health than the long-embattled INF Treaty.
