Caption: Road vehicle inspection at monitoring station in Votkinsk, Russia. (DTRA photo)

In 1988, The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) established a permanent monitoring system at a weapons factory inside the Soviet Union. Six years later, The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) authorized the monitoring of Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, rockets with the ability to deliver nuclear warheads to a programmed target. Together, these treaties have greatly reduced the number of strategic nuclear weapons across the world and positioned DTRA as a leader in the largest and most complex arms control effort in history.

When DTRA celebrated the 20th anniversary of our monitoring station in Votkinsk, Russia in 2008, we had completed more than 500 missile inspections, 11,000 rail vehicle inspections and over 100,000 road vehicle inspections. To this day, DTRA continues to enforce these treaties and maintain openness and transparency with Russia, a relationship that is more than two decades old, built on the foundations of partnership and trust.