Nuclear security

Obama and Russia’s Nuclear Stockpile

In his final press conference, President Obama falsely claimed that a treaty he signed with Russia in 2011 “has substantially reduced our nuclear stockpiles, both Russia and the United States.” The U.S. has decreased its deployed strategic nuclear warheads since the treaty took effect, but Russia has not.

Also, the nuclear arms treaty does not require either country to destroy nuclear weapons or reduce their nuclear stockpiles. Instead, it limits the number of warheads that can be deployed on strategic (or long-range) launchers and bombers.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a similar claim during the 2016 presidential campaign. In a TV ad, Clinton boasted that, as secretary of state, she was responsible for “securing a massive reduction in nuclear weapons.” That was in April last year. It wasn’t true then, and, since that time, Russia has increased its deployed warheads.