Nuclear Security and Russian-American Interaction

Abstract

The article is dedicated to crucial issues in Russian-American cooperation in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program was designed by Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar to assist the Soviet Union and then Russia in solving multiple problems related to nuclear weapons and nuclear materials after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that time, there was perception of a threat that the Russian government would not be able to ensure the safety of its inherited Soviet nuclear capabilities. The situation considerably worsened with the severe economic crisis in the USSR and the complicated financial and economic situation in Russia, who initiated radical reforms to transition to a market economy. In addition, the transportation of nuclear warheads to Russia from Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in the framework of the program of nuclear disarmament required significant financial resources.

The Nunn-Lugar Program started in June 17, 1992 with a document called the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States regarding the safe and secure transportation, storage and destruction of weapons and preventing the proliferation of weapons. The legal basis of NLP on the American side was formed by two documents: the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991 (December 12, 1991) that regulated the provision of large-scale aid to the USSR in the safe transportation, storage, and elimination of nuclear weapons; and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1993 (CTR, 11 October 1993) that detailed the spheres of cooperation with Russia and other post-Soviet states in the nuclear industry and considered the need to provide assistance to Russia for the destruction of stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. Despite a number of disadvantages, the Program had a positive significance for Russia and definitely fulfilled its historic mission by making a contribution to neutralizing the threat to nuclear safety in Russia. In addition, the Nunn-Lugar Program is an example of a completely new and unprecedented variant of the functioning of non-proliferation regimes - the interaction is much deeper than was provided by the authors of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.