Text: START Treaty Final Reductions Achieved, Powell Says

(Warhead levels nearly halved over seven-year period) (420)

The United States and the Russian Federation have successfully reduced
their strategic nuclear arsenals from more than 10,000 warheads to
6,000 under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), Secretary
of State Colin Powell says.

In a statement issued December 5, Powell said that Belarus, Kazakhstan
and Ukraine have completely eliminated or removed their nuclear
arsenals, and the Treaty's final ceilings have been met.

"We are now in a different era. The Soviet Union is gone and the U.S.
and Russia are no longer adversaries," Powell said. "As we cooperate
in building this new strategic relationship and as we move beyond the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, we will make further reductions in
strategic nuclear forces."

The text of Secretary Powell's statement follows:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman
December 5, 2001
STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL

On the Achievement of the Final Reductions under the START Treaty

Today we mark an important milestone in dismantling the legacy of the
Cold War. For the past seven years, under the terms of the Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the United States and the Russian
Federation have been reducing their strategic nuclear arsenals, while
all strategic weapons on the territories of Ukraine, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan have been removed or eliminated. The Treaty's final
ceilings came into effect today, and they have been met.

When President Reagan launched the START negotiations in 1983, the
United States and the USSR each had more than 10,000 deployed
strategic warheads. Today, all the former Soviet States except the
Russian Federation are free of nuclear weapons, and the U.S. and
Russia have cut their arsenals nearly in half to a level of 6,000
deployed warheads each.

We are now in a different era. The Soviet Union is gone and the U.S.
and Russia are no longer adversaries. As we cooperate in building this
new strategic relationship and as we move beyond the Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty, we will make further reductions in strategic nuclear
forces. At his summit with President Putin last month, President Bush
announced plans for much deeper cuts over the next decade in America's
operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads, and President Putin
said he would reciprocate. Construction of a broader strategic
framework for cooperation with Russia is well along, and START's
effective verification procedures remain in operation and will provide
transparency and confidence as we carry out these newly pledged
reductions.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)