Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that the New START treaty —the last-remaining US-Russia nuclear pact— has been suspended.
Putin's announcement comes days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and amid tensions unseen since the Cold War era.
Putin also sai that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the United States does so, a move that would end a global ban on nuclear weapons tests in place since Cold War era.
Explaining his decision to suspend Russia's obligations under New START, Putin accused the United States and its NATO allies of openly declaring the goal of Russia's defeat in Ukraine.
He said, "They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and try to get to our nuclear facilities at the same time...The drones used for it were equipped and modernized with NATO's expert assistance. And now they want to inspect our defense facilities? In the conditions of today's confrontation, it sounds like sheer nonsense."
Putin argued that while the United States 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. He also emphasised that Russia is suspending its involvement in New START and not entirely withdrawing from the pact yet.
What is New START treaty?
The New START treaty was signed in 2010 by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The New START treaty 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 and the United States have suspended mutual inspections under New START since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Moscow last fall refused to allow their resumption, raising uncertainty about the pact's future. Russia also indefinitely postponed a planned round of consultations under the treaty.
Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling
Since the beginning of the Ukraine War last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned nuclear weapons multiple times.
In October, Punt said "all means available" would be used to defend Russia. Putin has long alleged that the invasion of Ukraine was a response to threats faced by Russia from West and Ukraine.
"And if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff," said Putin in October.
Later, however, Putin ruled out the use of nuclear weapons. He said, "We see no need for that,” Putin said. “There is no point in that, neither political, nor military."
(With AP inputs)
