Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a freeze on his participation in the New START agreement during his speeches to both houses of the Russian parliament where he also repeated accusations that the West is trying to destroy Russia.
Putin submitted the draft law on suspension to the Duma, the lower house of parliament, which will consider it on Wednesday and make a decision soon, Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in a statement.
The draft will then be sent to the upper house of the Federation Council. Grigory Karasin, who heads the Council’s international committee, told the RIA news agency that the agency might also consider the law on Wednesday (22/2/2023).
Under the agreement, which was signed in 2010 and extended to 2026, Moscow and Washington committed to deploy no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and a maximum of 700 long-range missiles and bombers.
However, Russia will continue to observe limits on the number of nuclear warheads it can deploy under the New START treaty despite the decision to suspend participation in the treaty.
“In order to maintain a sufficient level of predictability and stability in the nuclear missile field, Russia intends to adhere to a responsible approach and will continue to strictly observe the quantitative limitations provided for by the New START treaty in the life cycle of the agreement,” Moscow said in a statement.
Russia also said it would keep the United States informed about its planned test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The United States, NATO and other nuclear powers Britain and France have criticized Putin’s decision, which he announced nearly a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In its statement, Moscow blamed the United States for Russia’s decision to suspend the agreement, accusing Washington of not complying with its terms and of trying to undermine Russia’s national security.
“There are many reasons to argue that US policy is aimed at undermining Russia’s national security, which directly contradicts the fundamental principles and understandings enshrined in the preamble to the treaty,” he said.
Moscow says the underlying geopolitical reality under which the agreement was signed has changed. It said the provision had become unilateral, benefiting the United States, and Washington had found a way to encroach on its central limit on the number of nuclear warheads it could deploy.
Nuclear weapons inspections permitted under News START were suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia also canceled talks last November about resuming mutual inspections.
Moscow has said it is not opposed to continuing participation should US policy towards Russia change.
“The decision to suspend participation in New START can be reversed. To do this, Washington must demonstrate political will and make good faith efforts for general de-escalation,” the foreign ministry said.
“We believe that the potential of the agreement in terms of its contribution to strengthening international security and strategic stability is far from exhausted.”
Putin stressed in his speech that Russia had only suspended, not stopped, its participation in the agreement.
Keep in mind, Russia and the United States together hold 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads.
(luc/luc)
