Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.
In his address to the nation, Putin said Moscow is not withdrawing from the agreement but is suspending participation.
Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the US and Russia are allowed to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons facilities, but inspections have been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. .
However, the New START treaty remained in effect after an earlier agreement between Moscow and Washington extended it until February 4, 2026.
According to US officials, Russia has repeatedly refused to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities.
“Russia has failed to comply with its obligations under the New START Treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory,” a US State Department spokesman said in January.
“Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important treaty rights and threatens the ability to control nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia.”
Some contexts: The New START Treaty is the only remaining agreement governing the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.
The treaty places limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the United States and Russia can possess. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides will soon need to begin negotiations on another arms control agreement.
A session of the Bilateral Advisory Committee on the treaty was scheduled to meet in Egypt at the end of November but was abruptly cancelled.
The United States has blamed Russia for the delay, with a State Department spokesman saying the decision was made “unilaterally” by Russia.
