START FOLLOW-ON NEGOTIATIONS, GENEVA (SFO-GVA-II):

S E C R E T GENEVA 000515 SIPDIS DEPT FOR T, VCI AND EUR/PRA DOE FOR NNSA/NA-24 CIA FOR WINPAC JCS FOR J5/DDGSA SECDEF FOR OSD(P)/STRATCAP NAVY FOR CNO-N5JA AND DIRSSP AIRFORCE FOR HQ USAF/ASX AND ASXP DTRA FOR OP-OS OP-OSA AND DIRECTOR NSC FOR LOOK DIA FOR LEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 TAGS: KACT MARR PARM PREL RS US START SUBJECT: START FOLLOW-ON NEGOTIATIONS, GENEVA (SFO-GVA-II): (U) RUSSIAN-PROPOSED TEXT FOR A JOINT UNDERSTANDING, JUNE 24, 2009 Classified By: A/S Rose E. Gottemoeller, United States START Negotiator. Reasons: 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is SFO-GVA-II-008. ¶2. (S) The text at paragraph 3 is the official translation of the Russian-proposed text for a Joint Understanding on the elements to be contained in a START Follow-On Treaty. The text was provided to the U.S. Delegation on June 24, 2009 in a line-in line-out form. The text provided below is a merged text reflecting Russian-proposed changes. ¶3. (S) Begin text: Official Translation Final (Handwritten) CONFIDENTIAL To be Turned over to the U.S. Side Paper of the Russian Side June 24, 2009 JOINT UNDERSTANDING The President of the Russian Federation and the President of the United States of America have decided on further reductions and limitations of their nations' strategic offensive arms and on concluding at an early date a new legally binding agreement to replace the current START Treaty. The new treaty will contain the following elements, inter alia: ¶1. A provision to the effect that each Party will reduce and limit its strategic offensive arms, so that seven years after entry into force of the treaty and thereafter, the aggregate numbers of strategic delivery vehicles and their associated warheads do not exceed levels to be agreed upon. ¶2. Provisions for calculating these limits. ¶3. Provisions on definitions, data exchanges, notifications, eliminations, inspections and verification procedures, as well as confidence building and transparency measures, as adapted, simplified, and made less costly, as appropriate, in comparison to the START Treaty. ¶4. A provision to the effect that each Party will determine for itself the composition and structure of its strategic offensive arms. ¶5. A provision on the interrelationship of strategic offensive and strategic defensive arms. ¶6. Provisions on non-deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles in a non-nuclear configuration and their impact on strategic stability. ¶7. A provision on basing strategic offensive arms exclusively on the national territory of each Party. ¶8. Establishment of an implementation body to resolve questions related to treaty implementation. ¶9. The provisions of the treaty will not apply to existing patterns of cooperation in the area of strategic offensive arms between a Party and a third state. ¶10. A duration of the treaty of ten years, unless it is superseded before that time by a subsequent treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive arms. The two Presidents direct their negotiators to finish their work on the treaty at an early date so that they may sign and submit it for ratification in their respective countries. The two Presidents have also directed that following conclusion of the treaty, the discussion of the prospects for effectively verifiable reductions in strategic offensive arms will continue in a step-by-step process. (See translator's notes below) Done at (City),this (date) day of (month),2009, in two originals, in the Russian and English languages. FOR THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (President D.A. Medvedev) (President B. Obama) -------------- Trans. Note: the words "to continue," used in the U.S. proposal ("to continue to pursue"),are not in the Russian text. Also, in line 4 of this paragraph, the word "their" is missing from the Russian text (the U.S. proposal reads "their nuclear arsenals"). Trans. Note: the words "effectively verifiable" are handwritten in the Russian text. -------------- End text. ¶4. (U) Gottemoeller sends. STORELLA