III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 61
Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements and
negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear forces.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY5, 2025
Mr. M
ARKEYsubmitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the continued value of arms control
agreements and negotiated constraints on Russian and
Chinese strategic nuclear forces.
Whereas the United States maintains bipartisan support to
ensure national security and the defense of United States
allies and partners;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan stated that ‘‘a nuclear
war cannot be won and must never be fought’’ in his
1984 State of the Union Address, and affirmed the con-
viction with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985;
Whereas, in January 2022, President Joseph R. Biden joined
the leaders of the People’s Republic of China, the French
Republic, the Russian Federation, and the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to reaffirm
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that ‘‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be
fought’’;
Whereas the Russian Federation illegally invaded Ukraine on
February 24, 2022, and has used veiled and blatant nu-
clear saber rattling in service of its war of aggression
against a sovereign state;
Whereas the war has led to thousands of casualties, including
over 40,000 civilians and more than 650 children killed,
along with the displacement of over 10,000,000 Ukrain-
ians;
Whereas the Russian Federation’s illegal war against
Ukraine represents the greatest threat to European secu-
rity and freedom in a generation;
Whereas, on February 27, 2022, President of Russia Vladi-
mir Putin ordered his military to put Russia’s nuclear
forces on ‘‘special combat readiness’’ in an escalatory re-
sponse to the unequivocal condemnation from the United
States and its western allies of the Russian Federation’s
illegal invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas, on September 21, 2022, President Putin warned he
was ‘‘not bluffing’’ when he said Russia has ‘‘various
weapons of mass destruction’’ and ‘‘will use all the means
available to us’’ to defend its territory shortly before an-
nexing additional Ukrainian lands through ‘‘referen-
dums’’;
Whereas, in February 2021, the United States and the Rus-
sian Federation extended the Treaty between the United
States of America and the Russian Federation on Meas-
ures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Stra-
tegic Offensive Arms signed April 8, 2010, and entered
into force February 5, 2011 (commonly known as the
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‘‘New START Treaty’’) for 5 years until February 5,
2026;
Whereas, on February 21, 2023, President Putin announced
the Russian Federation’s purported suspension of the
New START Treaty, the last major remaining bilateral
nuclear arms control agreement, in a move deemed le-
gally invalid by the United States;
Whereas the New START Treaty has had bipartisan support
and limits the Russian nuclear arsenal to 1,550 warheads
on no more than 700 deployed delivery vehicles, and to
800 deployed and nondeployed strategic launchers;
Whereas the New START Treaty has permitted robust and
strict transparency and verification measures and onsite
inspections, which have provided valuable insight into
Russia’s nuclear arsenal;
Whereas the United States has decades of bipartisan leader-
ship in nuclear arms control, including cooperation with
the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation even when
relations were strained;
Whereas, in June 2023, the United States Government an-
nounced it is now ready to engage in a dialogue with the
Russian Federation on a post-2026 nuclear arms control
framework and is ‘‘prepared to stick to the central limits
as long as Russia does’’ while also stating a ‘‘willingness
to engage in bilateral arms control discussions’’ with the
Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China
‘‘without preconditions’’;
Whereas the Department of State said in a report to Con-
gress released in January 2024, ‘‘The United States as-
sesses that the Russian Federation likely did not exceed
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the New START Treaty’s deployed warhead limit in
2023.’’;
Whereas Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
September 28, 2024, at a United Nations General As-
sembly meeting that Russia continues to comply with the
New START Treaty numerical limits;
Whereas the nuclear weapon states recognized by the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at
Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968 (com-
monly referred to as the ‘‘Nuclear Nonproliferation Trea-
ty’’ or ‘‘NPT’’), including the Russian Federation, the
United States, as well as the People’s Republic of China,
have an obligation to ‘‘pursue negotiations in good faith
on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear
arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament’’;
Whereas, in November 2023, senior United States and Chi-
nese officials held ‘‘a candid and in-depth discussion on
issues related to arms control and nonproliferation as
part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of commu-
nication and responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC relation-
ship’’; and
Whereas the absence of agreed limits on the United States
and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals after the expira-
tion of the New START Treaty would affect strategic
stability and increase the risk of a costly and unre-
strained nuclear arms race: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate— 1
(1) condemns in the strongest terms the use of 2
nuclear escalatory rhetoric and veiled threats to po-3
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tentially use nuclear weapons in the context of the 1
illegal invasion of a free and independent Ukraine; 2
(2) condemns the Russian Federation’s pur-3
ported suspension of its participation in the New 4
START Treaty; 5
(3) calls for immediate cessation of nuclear 6
saber rattling and nuclear escalatory rhetoric from 7
the Russian Federation, or by any other nuclear- 8
armed state; 9
(4) emphasizes the continued value of arms 10
control agreements between the United States and 11
the Russian Federation, which possess the world’s 12
largest nuclear arsenals; 13
(5) calls for the Russian Federation to prompt-14
ly return to full implementation of the New START 15
Treaty, including onsite inspections, provision of 16
treaty-mandated notifications and data, and resump-17
tion of Bilateral Consultative Commission meetings; 18
(6) calls on the administration to continue to 19
actively pursue a dialogue with the Russian Federa-20
tion on a new nuclear arms control framework and 21
on risk reduction in order to maintain strategic sta-22
bility, ensure the conflict in Ukraine does not esca-23
late to nuclear use, and avoid an unrestrained nu-24
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clear arms race following the expiration of the New 1
START Treaty; 2
(7) calls upon the United States and the Rus-3
sian Federation to continue to respect the numerical 4
constraints on the strategic deployed nuclear forces 5
established by the New START Treaty until such 6
time as a new nuclear arms control framework is es-7
tablished; and 8
(8) calls on the administration to continue to 9
engage the People’s Republic of China in further bi-10
lateral talks on nuclear risk reduction and arms con-11
trol, and to pursue new multilateral arms control ef-12
forts. 13
Æ
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