The Russian Foreign Ministry assured yesterday that the suspension announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin of the latest nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States is “reversible”.
“The decision on the suspension of compliance with START III may be reversible,” the Foreign Office statement states.
To do this, the US must show “political will” and create the conditions for the resumption of the operation of the treaty and guarantee its validity, since Moscow considers that START III or New START has not yet exhausted its importance for “strengthening the international security and strategic stability.
“However, it can only be fully realized if the potential for symmetrical, equal and rigorous compliance with START by both countries is restored. Until then, any concession to Washington within the START framework is absolutely ruled out, ”he explains.
Moscow accuses the US of instigating an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, which would have created for Russia “a totally different situation in the field of security”. In turn, he denounces Washington’s desire to deal Moscow a “strategic defeat” and tries to harm it “at any level, any sphere and any region of the world.”
Be that as it may, he stresses, Russia intends to continue respecting the limits imposed by START, a treaty that expires in 2026, as long as it remains in force.
Among other things, New START reduces the number of nuclear warheads by 30%, up to 1,550 per country.
Putin announced yesterday the suspension of compliance with the treaty during his address on the state of the nation before both houses of Parliament.
“They want to deal us a strategic defeat and they get into our nuclear facilities. Therefore, I am compelled to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty, ”he said.
He advanced that “if the US carries out nuclear tests with a new type of strategic weapon, Russia will also carry out tests” of that class.
