Russia stopped sharing advanced missile test info with the US as previously stipulated in a nuclear arms control treaty. Photo/Maksim Blinov/Sputnik
This was announced by a senior Moscow diplomat on Wednesday as the Russian military launched exercises involving the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian media that Moscow had stopped all exchanges of information with Washington under the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement with the US after suspending its participation last month.
Along with data on the current state of the nuclear forces of these countries which are routinely released every six months in accordance with the New START Treaty, the parties have also exchanged prior warnings about the launch of their nuclear weapons tests and deployments.
Such notifications have been a critical element of strategic stability for decades, allowing Russia and the United States to correctly interpret each other’s moves and ensure that no nation is mistaken for a test launch for a missile attack.
The cessation of information sharing under the pact marks another attempt by the Kremlin to dissuade the West from increasing its support for Ukraine by pointing to Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal.
Recently, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of its ally, Belarus.
Putin suspended the New START Treaty last month, saying Russia could not accept US inspection of its nuclear sites under the agreement at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have publicly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal.
