US, Russia agree on 3 START annexes

The United States and Russia have agreed to add three annexes to the protocol of their new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

"These Annexes contain the technical information and detailed procedures that will be used in implementing the New START Treaty verification regime," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley announced on Friday.

Crowley further pointed out that the annexes would "spell out the procedures for the conduct of inspection activities and the exchange of telemetric information."

The annexes will be added to the new treaty that US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed in the Czech Republic last month.

Like previous START agreements between Washington and Moscow, the new pact obliges the two countries to cut back on their nuclear arsenals.

If executed, the agreement will see Russia and the US reduce the number of their warheads to less than 1,550 apiece, or about one-third below current levels.

The two sides exchanged the text of the new additions in the Russian capital Moscow on Friday. Parliaments of both countries will have to approve the annexes before they can be implemented.

According to Crowley, the US State Department would send the annexes, along with other Treaty documents, to the Senate in May for advice and consent to ratification.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125020§ionid=3510203.