Russia asks U.S. for simpler START

MOSCOW, July 18 (UPI) -- The United States reportedly hasn't responded to Russia's request that the countries hammer out a simpler version of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

The START I treaty was signed July 31, 1991, five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the pact between the United States, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine is set to expire Dec. 5, 2009.

Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have reportedly dismantled their strategic arms capabilities and the United States and Russia have reduced their number of delivery vehicles to 1,600, with no more than 6,000 warheads, Novosti reported Wednesday.

The initial treaty was followed by START II, which banned the use of multiple re-entry vehicles, however, that pact was never enforced and was later bypassed by the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George Bush on May 24, 2002, Novosti said.

Russia and the United States had earlier confirmed plans to reduce their strategic arms to a minimum and to develop new agreements on START.

"In our opinion, we should not allow a vacuum in the sphere of strategic arms control," Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky, a senior Defense Ministry official, said in the Novosti report. "So far, the United States has not responded."