President Vladimir Putin says Russia is suspending its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last remaining nuclear arms accord with the United States, further raising concerns over global security during Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at his state-of-the-nation address in Moscow on February 21, Putin accused the West of trying to destroy Russia and, given the situation, he was halting the country's participation in the treaty. He added that Russia needed to be ready to resume nuclear weapons tests in case the United States does the same.
The 2010 treaty restricts each nation to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers. Nuclear weapons testing has been banned since the Cold War era.
Washington and its Western allies reacted immediately with derision to Putin's announcement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Athens that such a move was "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 added, noting that Washington also remained ready to resume negotiations with Moscow.
Talks between Moscow and Washington on the New START treaty were scheduled for last November but were called off at the last moment.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg expressed his disappointment with Russia's announcement by saying he regretted the move, which he hopes the Kremlin will reconsider.
"Over the last years, Russia has violated and walked away from key arms control agreements," Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
"With today’s decision on New START, the whole arms control architecture has been dismantled," he added.
New START, which was extended for five years in 2021, does not just put a limit on the size of Russian and American nuclear warheads and delivery systems. It also spells out a strictly defined set of inspections in which each side can travel to the other’s country, and use flashlights, tape measures, cameras, and other equipment to check and verify compliance with the treaty.
Each country gets 18 on-site inspections each year, and the two exchange information like declarations of the number of deployed warheads or deployed delivery vehicles -- things like submarines, trucks, and strategic bombers -- as well as telemetry data and notifications of when a test launch occurs.
Putin and other Russian officials, notably former President Dmitry Medvedev, have issued thinly veiled threats to potentially use nuclear weapons in connection with the war in Ukraine.
These threats have been worded in ways that seem designed to provide deniability and to keep the West guessing about Moscow’s intentions. But while U.S. officials have said they see no signs that would indicate preparations to use nuclear weapons, and analysts point out that any such use would be extremely risky for Russia, few in the West are entirely ruling out the possibility.
Jon Wolfsthal, a special assistant for national-security affairs under President Barack Obama, said that, while the United States still has "many more" nuclear weapons than it needs to deter Russian nuclear use, there could be "hard times ahead for stability and nuclear restraint."
"U.S. still has extensive ability to monitor Russian nuclear forces even without a treaty in place. But the loss of agreements will increase uncertainty and chances of misunderstanding, inflate threat perception and fuel accelerating arms race," he said in a tweet.
"Putin’s move is political, not military. He seeks to unsettle NATO allies and stoke fears of broader war because he is losing in Ukraine. Does not mean we have to take the bait but allied coordination more important than ever," he added, RFE/RL reports.
