On December 22, 2010, the US Senate ratified a new START treaty [PDF] between the United States and Russia in a 71-26 vote. The new START treaty was the first nuclear agreement between the two nations in twenty years and part of the attempt to reset relations with Russia by President Barack Obama's administration, especially after tensions following Russia's conflict with Georgia in 2008. Both countries agreed to reduce the number of permissible warheads under START from 2,200 to 1,550, effective February 5, 2011. President Obama expressed his desire to work towards a world without nuclear weapons in an April 2009 speech in Prague.

Learn more about nuclear non-proliferation from the JURIST news archive.

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