Obama and Medvedev Sign New START Treaty

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Prague on April 8, 2010. The treaty capped each side at 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles and bombers. It entered into force Feb. 5, 2011, after Senate ratification 71-to-26 on Dec. 22, 2010. New START was the last bilateral nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia. China was not a party. Russia suspended on-site inspections under the treaty in January 2023, citing Western weapons support for Ukraine. The treaty expired Feb. 5, 2026, ending continuous treaty coverage on U.S. and Russian strategic warheads that had existed since SALT I in 1972.