The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which entered into force on February 5, 2011, commits the United States and the Russian Federation to reduce and limit the number of deployed and non-deployed strategic offensive arms to the agreed aggregate numbers. Beginning April 6, 2011, inspections under the New START Treaty may be conducted in the Russian Federation and the United States.

A team of U.S. inspectors arrived today for the first on-site inspection in the Russian Federation. On-site inspections, along with data exchanges and notifications regarding strategic systems and facilities subject to New START, are key components of a verification regime for compliance with the Treaty.