最終極的環境威脅「核武戰爭」終於在3月26日稍減。美俄兩國元首簽訂了新的裁減核武條約，同意各自削減30%的核武庫存，使存量降到50年來的新低點。
美國總統歐巴馬(Barack Obama)與俄羅斯總統麥維德夫(Dimitry Medvedev)26日於電話中完成協議，並且將於4月8日於捷克布拉格會面，簽署一項新的戰略性武器削減條約，以限制雙方各自擁有的核彈頭數量低於1550枚。
選在布拉格簽訂條約的原因是去年4月歐巴馬總統在此首次表示，他對於無核武世界的願景。
克里姆林宮在今天(26日)發表的聲明中提到，現在已經向裁減核武邁開大步，兩個國家終會見到共同的終極目標：建立沒有核子武器的世界。
同一日，歐巴馬總統則在白宮說，經過一年地緊張談判，美俄兩國終於達成近20年來最全面性的武器控制協議。
這份新的10年期協議將會取代去年12月4日到期，簽訂於1991年的削減戰略性武器條約(START)。START於1994年12月5日生效，這份為期15年的條約，是美俄之間第一條不單單限制軍備競賽，而是同時真正考量到減少已有核武庫存的條約。
新的START同時取代了削減侵略性武器條約，也就是所謂的莫斯科條約，這份生效於2002年5月24日的條約，是美國前總統布希當時為進一步裁減軍備所簽訂的。
兩位總統表示，他們簽署文件的主要目的，在於讓各自的國家能夠批准新的條約。
如果兩國政府批准，這份新的條約所允許佈署的導彈數量總數將為700枚，包括以洲際彈道飛彈(ICBMs)、潛艦彈道飛彈(SLBMs)以及重型轟炸機等方式來佈署，這數字比舊條約的一半還低。
新條約同時允許的發射器為800套，包括ICBMs、SLBMs以及重型轟炸機。
新條約也規定，雙方可以自行決定戰略侵略性武器的組成與結構。
克里姆林宮在一份發表的聲明中說，新條約對於加強核武不擴散與裁減軍備所增進的信任，不應侷限於簽訂國家之間，而是要更廣泛的影響核武器不擴散條約(NPT)組織的成員國 - 不論他們是否擁有核武。
核武問政聯盟(The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, ANA)稱這是「美國核武政策積極正向的一步，」「它重振了國際間為了消除核武威脅所做的努力，」該聯盟也支持參議院迅速無條件批准該條約，以促使將來更進一步的削減核武。
The ultimate environmental threat - that of nuclear war - was reduced today. The presidents of the United States and Russia have agreed on the terms of a new nuclear disarmament treaty that cuts each side's arsenal of warheads by 30 percent to the lowest levels in more than 50 years.
President Barack Obama and President Dimitry Medvedev finalized the pact today by phone and will meet in Prague, Czech Republic on April 8 to sign a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that limits to 1,550 the number of warheads each side may have.
Prague was selected for the signing ceremony because it was there last April that President Obama first stated his vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
Today, the Kremlin said in a statement, "As they move toward greater disarmament, "both nations see their ultimate goal as creating a world without nuclear weapons."
President Obama said today at the White House, "After a year of intense negotiations, the United States and Russia have agreed to the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades."
The new 10-year agreement will replace the START Treaty of 1991 which expired on December 4, 2009. The START treaty entered into force on December 5, 1994 for 15 years and became the first Russian-U.S. treaty that not only restricted the arms race, but envisaged the real reduction of the already accrued arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons.
The new START agreement also replaces the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty, known as the Moscow Treaty, of May 24, 2002, in which President George W. Bush negotiated further weapons reductions.
Once the two presidents have signed the document, the main task will be for their respective countries to ratify the new treaty, they said.
If ratified by both governments, the new START treaty will allow 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBMs, deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles, SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers - numbers more than two times lower than the levels allowed in the previous START treaty.
The new START treaty will also allow each side 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and heavy bombers.
The new START treaty also provides that each party has the right to independently determine the composition and structure of its strategic offensive arms.
The input of the new treaty to strengthening nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament should also increase trust not merely between its parties, but more broadly among nuclear and non-nuclear NPT member-states, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Calling it "a positive step for U.S. nuclear policy" that "reinvigorates the international effort to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons," the Alliance said it supports "prompt Senate ratification of the New START agreement without conditions that will undermine prospects for further reductions."
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