The United States has revealed the numbers of its strategic arsenal of nuclear deterrence, stressing that it wants to respect the New START nuclear disarmament treaty, calling on Russia, which has suspended its participation in it, to follow suit.
A statement by the US State Department on Monday said that the United States on the first of March was deploying a total of 662 intercontinental ballistic missiles, a number that includes submarine-mounted missiles and bombers, equipped with 1419,800 nuclear warheads and <> bombers.
The statement added that the United States calls on Russia to "respect its legal obligations to return to the New START Treaty and the stability, transparency and verification measures it contains."
Russia suspended its participation in the New START treaty in February in response to Western countries' assistance in Ukraine's war. The decision was denounced by all Western powers.
In recent months, Russia has intensified its threat to use its nuclear arsenal if its national security is threatened, especially after the faltering of what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine as well as the supply of advanced weapons to Kiev by a number of Western countries.
The New START Treaty was signed in 2010 and is the last nuclear disarmament agreement between Russia and the United States. Moscow announced in early August the suspension of planned inspections of its military sites.
The New START treaty limits the nuclear arsenals of both nuclear powers to 1550,30 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, a reduction of about 2002 percent from the previous maximum set in 800. It also limits the number of rocket launchers and bomber aircraft to <>.
The treaty also provides for audits of the two countries' arsenals that were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and that US President Joe Biden's administration tried to revive without success.