The Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), better known as the Moscow Treaty, is a 2002 treaty between Russia and the United States limiting their nuclear arsenal to 1700-2200 operationally deployed warheads each. It was signed in Moscow on May 24, 2002. It is the latest in a long line of treaties and negotiations on mutual nuclear disarmament between Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) and the United States, which includes SALT I (1969-1972), ABM Treaty (1972), SALT II (1972-1979), INF Treaty (1987), START I (1991) and START II (1993). Image File history File linksMetadata Bush_and_Putin_signing_SORT.jpg Summary President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the United States George W. Bush sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty in Moscow on 24 May 2002. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: (help· info)) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ... May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... Nuclear disarmament is the proposed undeployment and dismantling of nuclear weapons particularly those the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) targeted on each other. ... SALT I is the common name for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (or ABM treaty) was a treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... nSALT II was a second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from 1972-1979 between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which sought to curtail the manufacture of strategic nuclear weapons. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union signed in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... START, officially the STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty was a nuclear weapons limitation treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. ... 1991 (MCMXCI in Roman) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... START II, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed by George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin in January 1993, which banned the use of MIRVs and hence often cited as De-MIRV-ing Agreement. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

The Moscow Treaty diverges from START in two ways: First, it limits actual warheads, whereas START I limits warheads only through declared attribution to their means of delivery (ICBMs, SLBMs, and Heavy Bombers). Second, the Bush and Putin administration wrote the Moscow Treaty under a framework of greater trust, which the START I Treaty framers did not enjoy. As a result, the Moscow Treaty does not contain the strict verification and inspection regime as START I mandated.

Russian and U.S. delegations meet twice a year to discuss the implementation of the Moscow Treaty at the Bilateral Implementation Commission, or "BIC".

The treaty has been criticized for various reasons:

• There are no verification provisions.
• The reductions are not required to be permanent; warheads may be placed in storage and later redeployed.
• The reductions are required to be completed only by the time the treaty expires, namely December 31, 2012.

December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2012 (MMXII) will be a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

SORT, Arms Control, and the Bush Administration

The above criticisms are best viewed in conjunction with relevant circumstances surrounding the current administration. During the Cold War, it became clear to most people on both sides of the Iron Curtain that a continued arms race in an environment of brinkmanship would only lead to disaster; hence, arms control. Consequently, advances in arms contr jkjkkjol have become customary norms for leaders in both Washington and Moscow; the Moscow Treaty is apparently George W. Bush's contribution to the process. Combatants {{{combatant1}}} {{{combatant2}}} Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties {{{casualties1}}} {{{casualties2}}} {{{notes}}} The Cold War was the protracted geostrategic, economic and ideological struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their respective and emerging alliance partners. ... Europe at the time of the Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain is a Western term referring to the boundary which symbolically, ideologically, and physically divided Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, roughly 1945 to 1990. ... Arms control is a broad term alluding to a range of political concepts and aims. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ...

In 2002, information was leaked from a classified document, the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which is required by law to assess the state of the current US nuclear arsenal, outline projections, and address policy. The leaked information showed an interest by the Bush administration to pursue a new nuclear triad consisting of new offensive nuclear strike systems, ballistic missile defenses, and a revitalized nuclear infrastructure.

See also

• Russia and weapons of mass destruction
• The United States and weapons of mass destruction

Russia possesses one of the two largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world (the United States possess the other). ... The Federal Government of the United States is known to possess three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and biological weapons. ...

External links

• Full text of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty
• White House Fact Sheet: Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions
• Nuclear Files.org Text of the SORT