--It is very important to ratify the START-2 treaty and immediately go on to develop and sign START-3, said Russian Minister of Defence Igor Sergeev while visiting Severomorsk, home base of the Northern Fleet, last week.
According to the minister, the nuclear potential of Russia will decrease anyway in the years to come, to the extent that Russia in the near future will possess no more than 2000 nuclear strategic warheads.
START-2 was signed by Yeltsin and Clinton in 1993. The US congress ratified the treaty in 1996, while the Russian Duma with its communistic majority, has been hampering the ratification so far. In accordance with the START-2 treaty, Russian strategic forces should possess 3250 nuclear warheads by year 2003.