NEW YORK, May 4 (UPI) -- Russia has announced it decreased its nuclear strategic forces by 357 delivery vehicles and 1,740 warheads between Jan. 1, 2000, and Jan 1, 2005.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak told the 7th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference in New York that Russia has fulfilled the goals agreed to under START, the strategic arms reduction treaty, ahead of schedule, the Novosti news agency reported. "By this moment in time, Russia has reduced its non-strategic nuclear arsenals by four times," said Kislyak. "On balance, compared with 1991, the overall inventories of nuclear arms have been cut back by more than five times."
The deputy minister said the Moscow Treaty, concluded in 2002, was another important step towards nuclear disarmament. Under the treaty, Russia and the U.S. pledged to reduce their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds in 10 years, down to 1,700-2,200 warheads on each side.
"Our contribution to irreversible nuclear disarmament also includes a program to process 500 tons of highly enriched uranium extracted from Russian nuclear armaments," Kislyak said. He estimated 250 tons of uranium will have been processed by the fall of this year.
