Russian President Vladimir Putin announces suspension of the latest nuclear deal with the United States
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will withdraw from the last nuclear agreement signed by Russia and the United States. Putin said that in this case, they would start nuclear weapons tests again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he is suspending the last nuclear arms control agreement with the United States. This has caused yet another tension in the midst of tensions arising from the conflicts in Ukraine.
In his annual address to the nation, Putin said that Russia should be ready to resume nuclear weapons testing.
Announcing Russia's decision to suspend its obligations under the 2010 New Start agreement, "They want to inflict a 'strategic defeat' on us and try to get to our nuclear facilities at the same time," he said.
The bill on the suspension of the agreement was sent to the Kremlin-controlled lower house.
However, Moscow stressed that it did not withdraw from the agreement completely.
Hours after Putin's speech, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the country would comply with the limits on nuclear weapons.
RUSSIA WILL COMPLY WITH NUCLEAR WEAPON LIMITS
The ministry said Russia will also continue to exchange information on ballistic missile tests with the United States in accordance with previous agreements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the decision to suspend Russia's participation in New Start can be reversed. He urged the United States to de-escalate tensions and create a favorable environment for the implementation of the agreement.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken condemned Putin’s move as “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible”, adding: “We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does.
“We remain ready to talk about strategic arms limitations at any time with Russia irrespective of anything else going on in the world or in our relationship. I think it matters that we continue to act responsibly in this area. It’s also something the rest of the world expects of us.”
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg also voiced regret about Putin’s move, saying “full arms control architecture has been dismantled”.
“I strongly encourage Russia to reconsider its decision and respect existing agreements.”
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.
NATO WANTS TO CONTROL RUSSIA'S BASES
The Russian leader yesterday mocked Nato’s statement urging Moscow to allow the resumption of the US inspections of Russian nuclear weapons sites as “some kind of theatre of the absurd”.
“The drones used for it were equipped and modernised with Nato’s expert assistance,” Putin said.
“And now they want to inspect our defence facilities? In the conditions of today’s confrontation, it sounds like sheer nonsense.”
He described the US push for access to Russian nuclear sites as “the height of hypocrisy and cynicism”.
“They want to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on us and at the same time they keep trying to get to our nuclear facilities,” he said.
He noted he signed an order a week ago to deploy new land-based strategic missiles and asked: “Are they also going to poke their noses there?”
The Russian leader also alleged that a Nato statement on New Start raised the issue of the nuclear weapons of Britain and France, which are part of the alliance’s nuclear capability but are not included in the US-Russian pact.
“They are also aimed against us. They are aimed against Russia,” Putin said of the European weapons.
(Independent)
