Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia will suspend its participation in the new START nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Putin said in his state of the nation address that Moscow had not withdrawn from the agreement, but had suspended its participation.
Both the US and Russia are allowed to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons bases under key nuclear arms control treaties, but inspections have been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the New START treaty remains in effect after Moscow and Washington agreed to extend it beyond February 4, 2026.
Russia has resisted inspections of its nuclear facilities, according to U.S. officials.
“Russia has not complied with its obligations under the New START treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory,” a State Department spokesman said in January.
“Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspections deprives the United States of important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control.”
Some background: The new START treaty is the only one that governs the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.
The treaty limits the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that the United States and Russia can possess. It was last extended for five years in early 2021, meaning the two sides will soon need to start negotiating another arms control agreement.
A meeting of a bilateral consultative committee on the treaty, which was scheduled to take place in Egypt in late November, was abruptly canceled.
The United States blamed Russia for the delay, with a State Department spokesman calling the decision “unilateral” by Russia.