Number: 97-359
Title: START II Debate in the Russian Duma: Issues and Prospects
Authors: Amy F. Woolf, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division 
Abstract: The Russian Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament approved ratification of the START II Treaty on April 14, 2000, after 7 years of debate and dissension. (The United States Senate approved ratification of the treaty in January 1996.) This report describes key concerns raised by Members of the Duma during their discussions of START II. These include concerns with treaty provisions, such as its ban on multiple warhead ICBMs and its warhead "downloading" provisions, and concerns with Russia's ability to maintain and finance its strategic nuclear forces in the future. The report notes that some in the Duma have linked their disapproval of START II to U.S. plans to deploy ballistic missile defenses, while others have linked START II to NATO's movement to add new members from the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Although the Duma has now approved START II, its future remain uncertain because the Treaty cannot enter into force until the United States Senate consents to the ratification of a Protocol that extends the elimination deadlines in START II and several agreements that modify the 1972 ABM Treaty.
Pages: 13
Date: April 17, 2000