During the period of validity of the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty with the United States (START), Russia will comply with the quantitative arms restrictions provided for by the treaty. This is stated in statement Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in connection with the suspension of the treaty by Russia.
The decision to suspend the START might be reversible if the United States makes efforts “for the purposes of a general de-escalation and creation of conditions for the resumption of full-scale functioning” of the treaty, the Foreign Ministry said. Until then, Moscow will not take any steps towards the United States.
The Foreign Ministry believes that Russia should perceive the nuclear potentials of the United States, Great Britain and France “in aggregate” and take this into account in the process of limiting and reducing nuclear weapons. In addition, the Foreign Ministry called “blatantly provocative” the US attempts to “probe” the security of a number of Russian facilities declared under the START.
In a message to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New START Treaty. The reasons for this decision, Vladimir Putin considers the US rejection of Russian applications under the agreement and NATO’s statements regarding the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken assured that Washington is still ready to discuss the issue of arms limitation. The United Nations and the NATO Secretary General urged Russia to return to the negotiations on the DNSV.
