Russia to suspend role in last remaining nuclear accord with U.S.

Russia will stop participating in the New START nuclear arms treaty with the United States that obliges the two nations to reduce and limit their forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement in a state of the nation address Tuesday in which he accused NATO of helping Ukraine strike Russian air bases with drones. The air bases host some of its nuclear forces' strategic bombers.

“Our relations have degraded and that’s completely and utterly the U.S.'s fault,” Putin said. “If the U.S. conducts tests, then so will we. Nobody should have any illusions that global strategic parity can be destroyed.”

Putin said Russia will not withdraw from the treaty but will no longer allow NATO countries to inspect its nuclear arsenal, which is at the heart of the agreement.

"This is a time of radical, irreversible change in the entire world, of crucial historical events that will determine the future of our country and our people, a time when every one of us bears a colossal responsibility," Putin said.

"The whole world witnessed how they withdrew from fundamental agreements on weapons, including the treaty on intermediate and shorter-range missiles, unilaterally tearing up the fundamental agreements that maintain world peace," he said. "For some reason, they did it. They do not do anything without a reason, as we know."

'Dangerous and reckless'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Putin's announcement "deeply unfortunate and irresponsible."

"We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does. We’ll, of course, make sure that in any event we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies," he said.

The Biden administration extended the New START Treaty because it served the security interests of both countries, said Blinken, and the United States remains "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."

The New START Treaty – which replaced the START Treaty that was in effect from 2004 to 2009 – obliged the two nations to reduce and limit their forces so their arsenals do not exceed:

• 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments;
• 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments (each such heavy bomber is counted as one warhead toward this limit);
• 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.

The U.S. and Russia had agreed to renew the New START Treaty for five years in February 2021, just before it was set to expire. The treaty was extended without any changes made to it.

Suspending implementation of New START "represents a dangerous and reckless decision from President Putin," said the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, based in Geneva.

"Russia must immediately return to full compliance," it said, "with the agreement and continue to adhere to warhead limits."