MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the only remaining arms control treaty with the US.

New START is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and Russia, signed on April 8, 2010, in Prague by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, further ratified by both countries and entered into force on Feb. 5, 2011.

In 2021, the treaty was extended for five years, to 2026, upon the agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden.

The agreement's official name is the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, New START.

The treaty is the 7th in a series of bilateral agreements between the USSR/Russia and the US to limit strategic nuclear weapons.

In the early 1990s, the first and the last President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, said he saw the treaty as a means to complete nuclear disarmament,"to free humankind from nuclear threat."

The treaty limits the number of deployed missiles and bombers to 700, deployed warheads, including multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles and bombers, to 1,550 and deployed and non-deployed launchers — missile tubes and bombers — to 800.

The treaty had reservations from each side, and the US issued a resolution, saying the treaty would not limit the deployment of its ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems, including in Europe.

Russia, while signing and ratifying New START, made a statement that says that New START would only be effective and viable in the absence of a qualitative and quantitative superiority of the US BMD systems.

The treaty suggests the establishment of a verification commission, which has to provide transparency regarding arms reduction.

The commission may include working groups to address any issues arising due to the treaty's implementation.

Under the treaty, the sides may request information about up to five launches of missiles per year, should exchange information on the number of warheads and carriers twice a year — in March and September, and have the right to carry out up to 18 inspections per year.

There are two types of inspections. The first suggests supervising objects with deployed strategic arms — ground, sea and air bases.

The second type suggests inspections of places of loading, maintenance and storage of missiles.

Each side may carry out up to 10 inspections of the first type and up to eight inspections of the second type per year.

Throughout the treaty implementation, 328 inspections were held, and sides exchanged more than 21,000 launch notifications as of January 2021, when the last report was published.

In 2017, according to the State Department statement, the US had 660 carriers, 1,393 warheads and 800 launchers. Russia does not agree with this count, claiming some of the US launchers may be quickly reequipped for the use of nuclear weapons.

Russia, as of Sept.1, 2020, had 510 deployed carriers, 1,447 warheads and 764 deployed and non-deployed launchers.

The experts say that the actual number of warheads may be more than the stated because both sides use multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles -- one missile carrying several nuclear warheads.

Elena Teslova/AA

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Russia suspends its participation in New START nuclear arms treaty

Putin says if US tests new nuclear weapons, Russia will follow suit

MOSCOW (AA) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia will suspend its participation in the only remaining arms control treaty with the US.

Addressing the Russian parliament, also known as the Federal Assembly, in the capital Moscow, Putin said the New START treaty was signed in a fundamentally different political reality and no longer reflects the situation.

He said Washington imposed anti-Russia sanctions, which prevented Moscow from holding "unobstructed inspections" in the territory of the US and accordingly, created "obvious unilateral advantages for the American party."

He also said the data collected by the US military during inspections could be transferred to the Ukrainian army for strikes on Russia's strategic military facilities.

Besides, Putin said by demanding from Russia to resume inspections, NATO declared its desire to become a party to the treaty.

"We agree with this, please. Moreover, we believe that such a statement is long overdue. After all, there is more than one nuclear power in NATO, the US, the UK and France also have nuclear arsenals," he said.

The UK and the US are developing their nuclear capabilities, which are directed against Russia as well, he said.

"I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). I repeat -- does not withdraw from the contract, exactly suspends its participation," he said.

Putin said he is aware of the US plans to test new nuclear weapons and instructed the Russian Defense Ministry to prepare to test Russian nukes in response.

"Proactively, we will not test anything, but if the US tests its nuclear weapons, we will do the same in response," he said.

Signed in 2010 and extended in 2021 for another five years, the treaty aims to control and reduce strategic nuclear forces used by the US and Russia.

Elena Teslova/AA

NATO chief urges Russia to revert suspension of New START nuclear treaty

‘More nuclear arms, fewer arms control makes world more dangerous,’ claims Jens Stoltenberg

BRUSSELS (AA) - The NATO chief called on Russia to withdraw its decision to suspend the New START nuclear treaty.

"I'm calling on Russia today to reconsider its decision to suspend participation in the New START agreement," Jens Stoltenberg said at a joint news conference after he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

He stated that more "nuclear weapons and fewer arms control make the world more dangerous" and stressed the importance of a rules-based world order.

Stoltenberg's remarks followed a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he announced that his country would no longer apply the treaty that aimes to control and reduce strategic nuclear weapons deployed by the US and Russia.

Stoltenberg also responded to Putin's accusation that the West provoked and escalated the war in Ukraine, saying: "Nobody is attacking Russia. Russia is the aggressor."

Borrell also rejected Putin's arguments, saying that under the UN Charter,it is perfectly legitimate to support the one who has been aggressed.

The treaty, signed in 2010 and extended in 2021 for another five years, the treaty aims to control and reduce the strategic nuclear forces deployed by the US and Russia.

- Support for Ukraine

Leaders from NATO, the EU and Ukraine met for the first time in this trilateral format, which Borrell described as "historic"

Stoltenberg reiterated his call to NATO allies to "maintain and strengthen military support to Ukraine."

Borrell also agreed that military production should be ramped up, but stressed that "we must use what we have."

He announced that he had sent a letter to all EU defense ministers on Monday urging them to "make deliveries under contracts already signed with the defense industry, giving priority to Ukraine" rather than replenishing their own stocks.

Stoltenberg also announced that they have agreed that NATO will assist Ukraine in creating an "effective, accountable and transparent procurement system" following the country's recent revelations of corruption in Ukrainian Defense Ministry purchases.

Agnes Szucs/AA