Russia will continue to honor its commitment to reduce its nuclear arsenal under the New START Treaty, despite the president’s decision to suspend participation in the landmark Russian-American disarmament treaty Vladimir Putin.
“Russia wants to maintain a responsible approach and will continue to strictly observe the quantitative limits for offensive strategic weapons until the contract expires,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Putin announced on Tuesday that he was suspending Russia’s participation in the New START treaty, the latest bilateral nuclear disarmament treaty between Moscow and Washington, which has been extended until February 5, 2026.
The Russian ministry justified the decision by “subversive actions of the United States”, accusing them of multiple violations of the text signed in 2010, which “endangers its implementation”.
On the one hand, Moscow points out, Washington’s “extremely hostile attitude” and its “open commitment to the malicious escalation of the conflict in Ukraine” have created a “completely different security environment” for Russia.
“The US and the West, which it controls, are trying to harm our country at all levels, in all fields and in all parts of the world,” claims Russian diplomacy, assessing that “the status quo is no longer possible.”
Russia, on the other hand, assesses that the arsenals of NATO’s three nuclear powers, the USA, France and Great Britain, “must be taken into account together in the process of limitation and reduction”, and New START concerns only Moscow and Washington.
Finally, Russia points out that the fact that the US is establishing anti-missile shield systems capable of intercepting Russian warheads makes New START ineffective.
At the same time, Russia accuses Washington of “disrespecting” the text when it “exempted more than a hundred types of American offensive strategic weapons from the provisions of the treaty or declared them converted, without giving Russia the possibility of verification.”
According to Russian diplomacy, Moscow can withdraw the suspension of New START if Washington shows “good will” for “global de-escalation”.
At the beginning of August, Russia announced that it was suspending planned inspections of military bases.
