Trump Administration Wants To Know How Fast Its Nuclear Weapons In Storage Could Be Pulled Out If The START Treaty Is Over

Marshall Billingslea, special U.S. presidential envoy for arms control, and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori pose for a photo ahead of their bilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday. | POOL / VIA AFP-JIJI

Japan Times: White House wants to know how fast nukes could be pulled out of storage, report says

As talks over extending the last remaining strategic arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia remain deadlocked, the Trump administration has reportedly asked the military to assess how quickly it could pull nukes out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines if the treaty expires in February.

The request was part of a strategy to heap pressure on Russia in renegotiating the New START agreement ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, Politico reported Monday, citing three people familiar with discussions on the issue.

The Trump White House, which sees Moscow as dragging out the talks, reportedly hopes to underscore that it is serious about letting the treaty expire if Russia fails to meet U.S. demands.

“It’s a clear signal that the costs for not negotiating before the election are going to go up,” the report quoted one of the sources as saying. The U.S. is “trying to create an incentive, and it’s a real incentive, for the Russians to sit down and actually negotiate.”

The request for the assessment came in the last two weeks from a group of officials at the National Security Council and State, Defense and Energy departments that is supporting Ambassador Marshall Billingslea in negotiations with Moscow to try to replace New START before it expires, according to the report.

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Update: Trump administration orders assessment on bolstering nuclear warheads as talks with Russia stall (Politico)

WNU Editor: In an emergency I am sure these weapons could be pulled out, prepared, and deployed very quickly.