WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Russia was given information on Britain's nuclear arsenal by the United States in order to secure an arms treaty, reports published Saturday said.
The Daily Telegraph quoted documents published on the WikiLeaks Web site as saying Washington agreed to share information on the Trident missiles it sells to Britain as a bargaining chip with Moscow on the recently ratified new START arms treaty.
Britain has traditionally been secretive about its nuclear arsenal, although last year, Foreign Secretary William Hague said "up to 160" missiles were operational, the newspaper said.
The unsubstantiated diplomatic messages WikiLeaks published suggest the United States offered to supply Russia the serial numbers of the missiles it sold to Britain as part of the START negotiations, although Britain had denied permission to share information in 2009.
The arms control treaty is scheduled to be signed by U.S. President Barack Obama next week.
