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CRS-10
concepts that accompanied the end of the Cold War. Moreover, the withdrawal of
the sea-based weapons helped ease a source of tensions between the United States
and some allies, such as New Zealand and Japan, who had been uncomfortable with
the possible presence of nuclear weapons during port visits by U.S. naval forces."
The President's announcement also responded to growing concerns among
analysts about the safety and security of Soviet nonstrategic nuclear weapons. The
Soviet Union had deployed thousands of these weapons at bases in remote areas of
it's territory and at bases outside Soviet territory in Eastern Europe. The demise of
the Warsaw Pact, and political upheaval in Eastern Europe generated concerns about
the safety of these weapons. The abortive coup in Moscow in August 1991 had also
caused alarms about the strength of central control over nuclear weapons inside the
Soviet Union. The U.S. initiative was not contingent on a Soviet response, and the
Bush Administration did not consult with Soviet leadership prior to its public
announcement, but many hoped that the U.S. initiative would provide President
Gorbachev with the incentive to take similar steps to withdraw and eliminate many
of his nation's nonstrategic nuclear weapons.
Soviet and Russian Initiatives. On October 5, 1991, Russia's President
Gorbachev replied that he, too, would withdraw and eliminate nonstrategic nuclear
weapons.18 He stated that the Soviet Union would destroy all nuclear artillery
ammunition and warheads for tactical missiles; remove warheads for nuclear anti-
aircraft missiles and destroy some of them, destroy all nuclear land-mines; and
remove all naval non-strategic weapons from submarines and surface ships and
ground-based naval aviation, destroying some of them. Estimates of the numbers of
nonstrategic nuclear weapons deployed by the Soviet Union varied, with a range as
great as 15,000-21,700 nonstrategic nuclear weapons in the Soviet arsenal in 1991.19
Consequently, analysts expected these measures to affect several thousand weapons.
Russia's President Boris Yeltsin pledged to continue implementing these
measures after the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991. He also stated that
Russia would destroy many of the warheads removed from nonstrategic nuclear
weapons.20 These included all warheads from short-range missiles, artillery, and
atomic demolition devices; one-third of the warheads from sea-based nonstrategic
weapons; half the warheads from air-defense interceptors; and half the warheads
from the Air Force's nonstrategic nuclear weapons.Reports indicate that the Soviet Union had begun removing nonstrategic nuclear
weapons from bases outside Soviet territory after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact,
and they had probably all been removed from Eastern Europe and the Transcaucusus
' See, for example, Crisis in U.S.-New Zealand Relations, CRS Report 85-92F, by Robert
G. Sutter, (Out-of-print. For copies, contact Amy Woolf at 202-707-2379.)
18 President Gorbachev also addressed strategic nuclear weapons in his initiative,
announcing that he would remove bombers and more than 500 ballistic missiles from alert
and cancelling many modernization programs.
'9 Joshua Handler, in Alexander and Millar, Tactical Nuclear Weapons, p. 31.20 For the text of President Yeltsin's statement, see Larsen and Klingenberger, pp 284-289.
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Woolf, Amy F. Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, report, September 9, 2004; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6104/m1/13/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.