With New START, U.S., Russia Commit to Disarmament

• The treaty includes a 30 percent cut in the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by the two countries, who together hold more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons
• Under the NPT, countries without nuclear weapons agree not to acquire them. Obama said he believes more countries will come to recognize that their security in the 21st century will depend mainly upon their economic growth, the international community's capacity to resolve conflicts, and the strength of their conventional military forces.
• The New START must be ratified by both the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma before formally coming into effect.
• The two countries still have differences over U.S. plans for a missile defense system