The United States–Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue (SSD) is a series of meetings and working groups, started in 2021, aiming to reduce the risk of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Creation

The United States–Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue was created following a June 2021 meeting between

(US) president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and

n president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, aiming at reducing the risk of nuclear war. The two presidents stated that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought".

Aims

The aims of the SSD are to prevent

by creating stability that prevents or reverses an

arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...

in nuclear weapon development, and to create stability that prevents or dampens crises in which nuclear weapons could be used. These aims tending towards

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

included preparing a broader treaty than

New START New START (Russian language, Russian abbrev.: СНВ-III, ''SNV-III'' from ''сокращение стратегических наступательных вооружений'' "reduction of strategic offensive arms") is a Nuclear disarmament, ...

, which is legally binding through to 2026. Cybersecurity of nuclear weapons systems is among the issues to be covered.

Structure

The SSD is planned to include plenary meetings and technical working groups.

Meetings

The first plenary SSD meeting took place in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

on 28 July 2021. A second meeting, in September 2021, agreed to create a ''Principles and Objectives for Future Arms Control'' working group and a ''Capabilities and Actions with Strategic Effects'' working group. A third meeting was planned for December 2021 but did not take place. An ''extraordinary'' meeting of the SSD was held between the US and Russian delegations in Geneva on 10 January 2022. Discussions included the issue of the location of missiles, including those in Europe, in a similar way to rules of the

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russia, Russian Federation). President of the United States, US President Ronald Rea ...

, from which the US withdrew in 2019. The talks also included issues related to the

2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis In March and April 2021, prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces began massing thousands of personnel and military equipment near Russia's border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobil ...

Analysis

In October 2021, astrophysicist

Robert J. Goldston Robert James Goldston (born May 6, 1950) is a professor of astrophysics at Princeton University and a former director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Early life and education Goldston was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1950, the son of El ...

recommended that the SSD cover the four different issues of limiting

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

defence, eliminating

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s based in underground missile silos, banning nuclear-armed

intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ball ...

s, and agreeing on a common policies on the use of nuclear bombs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue Nuclear weapons policy Arms control