Update: 05/24/02
Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Bush, meeting in Moscow, signed an agreement to reduce the nuclear arsenals of both former Cold War adversaries by about 65 percent, to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads, by the year 2012. Both nations currently have about 6,000 warheads.

Dateline: 05/13/02

Declaring it would "put behind us the Cold War once and for all, " President Bush announced an arms reduction agreement with Russia greatly reducing the nuclear weapons arsenals of both nations.

"This treaty will liquidate the legacy of the Cold War," said Bush of the agreement which will result in both U.S. and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons being reduced by from 1,700 to 2,200 warheads each.

Quoting an unnamed Bush administration official, CNN reported that some warheads involved in the reduction will be destroyed, while some will be stored according to a formula yet to be negotiated. The Russians favored destroying all excess warheads, while the U.S. wanted to store them for emergency use.

The treaty, to be signed by President Bush during his May 23-26 trip to Moscow, will usher in what Bush called a "new era" in of relations between the two superpowers who came to the brink of nuclear Holocaust in 1962. "The new era will be a period of enhanced mutual security, economic security and improved relations," said Bush.

Earlier this month, White House negotiators also settled a long-standing disagreement with the Russians over how nuclear weapons launch sites capable of delivering multiple warheads would be counted in arms reductions efforts. The two sides agreed that each site, no matter how many warheads it could deliver, would count as one site.

"This is good news for the American people today. It'll make the world more peaceful, and put behind us the Cold War once and for all," said President Bush. 

Who Has Nukes?
Nations currently known to have ready nuclear arsenals and the approximate size of those arsenals are:

United States: 12,000 warheads
Russia: 22,500 warheads
United Kingdom: 380 warheads
France: 450 warheads
China: 400 warheads
Pakistan: 12-18 warheads
India: 12-18 warheads

(Source: CNN - The Bomb / Cold War)