Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty — the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States – sharply upping the ante amid tensions with Washington over the fighting in Ukraine.
Putin also said that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does so, a move that would end a global ban on nuclear weapons tests in place since Cold War times.
Explaining his decision to suspend Russia’s obligations under New START, Putin accused the US and its NATO allies of openly declaring the goal of Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. “They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and try to get to our nuclear facilities at the same time,” Putin said.
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Putin argued that while the US has pushed for the resumption of inspections of Russian nuclear facilities under the treaty, NATO allies had helped Ukraine mount drone attacks on Russian air bases hosting nuclear-capable strategic bombers. “The drones used for it were equipped and modernised with NATO’s expert assistance,” Putin told the gathering. “And now they want to inspect our defense facilities? In the conditions of today’s confrontation, it sounds like sheer nonsense,” Vladimir Putin added.
Putin emphasised that Russia is suspending its involvement in New START and not entirely withdrawing from the pact yet.
The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.
Just days before the treaty was due to expire in February 2021, Russia and the United States agreed to extend it for another five years. Russia also indefinitely postponed a planned round of consultations under the treaty.