Enlarge image
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin during his State of the Union address in Moscow
Photo: Dmitry Astakhov / AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is suspending its participation in the New Start nuclear weapons control treaty with the United States.
This is what Putin said towards the end of his State of the Union address to the Federal Assembly on Monday in Moscow.
The suspension is not an exit, he clarified.
The »New Start« agreement, which came into force on February 5, 2011, limits the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the USA to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 operational nuclear warheads each.
It is the only remaining major arms control agreement between the US and Russia.
It was initially closed for a period of ten years.
In 2021, Moscow and Washington signed a five-year extension.
Putin said he felt compelled to announce that Russia was suspending its participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty.
"We're not withdrawing from it, but we're suspending our participation." He also threatened nuclear tests -- but only if Washington did them first.
Then Russia will do the same.
The agreement also stipulates that Washington and Moscow can exchange information about their strategic nuclear arsenals and hold up to 18 verification visits per year.
However, the inspections were already suspended in March 2020 due to the corona pandemic.
Talks between Moscow and Washington on resuming controls were scheduled to take place in Egypt in November last year but were postponed by Russia.
Since then, neither side had set a new date.
Serious allegations against Washington
Putin accused the US of "theatre of the absurd," noting that Washington recently accused Moscow of not allowing experts into the country to inspect nuclear defense systems.
If, in times of such tensions, someone in the West seriously expects Russia to grant this access, that's "nonsense," Putin said.
At the same time, he reiterated that Russia would not grant US experts access because Russian inspectors were also unable to enter the United States due to Western sanctions.
Putin's main reason for suspending "New Start" was that France and Great Britain, for example, were further developing their nuclear arsenals and aligning their nuclear potential against Russia.
Putin also viewed statements by NATO about "New Start" as interference and a reason to reconsider the treaty.
NATO recently accused Russia of breaching the treaty.
Russia's refusal to allow US inspections on its territory undermines the future of the treaty, sources in Brussels said in early February.
Moscow, in turn, rejected these allegations at the time and blamed the United States.
According to experts, Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world with almost 6,000 warheads.
Together, Russia and the US own about 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.
Stoltenberg calls on Putin to respect the control treaty
Shortly after Putin's speech, NATO called on the Russian president to respect the nuclear weapons control treaty.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appealed to the head of the Kremlin in Brussels on Tuesday to "reconsider his decision and to respect the existing treaties".
At the same time, Stoltenberg rejected Putin's accusation that the West wanted to "do away with" Russia: "Nobody is attacking Russia, Russia is the aggressor," emphasized Stoltenberg at the joint appearance with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell in Brussels.
In his speech, Putin made it clear "to prepare for a continued war," said the NATO Secretary General.
col/Reuters/dpa/AFP