Biden said the Russian Federation had made a “huge mistake” by suspending the only remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States.
On February 22, the Federation Council (Senate) of Russia approved a bill on the suspension of the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START). This is the only remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia.
Earlier, on the same day, the State Duma (lower house) of Russia also approved this bill after being presented by President Vladimir Putin a day earlier. This measure will go into effect at the time of its official publication. The decision to restore participation in the treaty will be made by the President of Russia.
According to Russia’s RT Radio, when asked about this while attending a joint photo session in Warsaw preparing to conclude a visit to Ukraine and Poland, US President Joe Biden initially joked that he did not have time, then There he paused for a moment and then remarked that Russia’s decision was a “major mistake”.
Earlier, on February 21, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s decision “irresponsible and deeply regrettable”. NATO Secretary General and top European Union (EU) diplomat warned the move could mark the end of the post-Cold War arms control structure. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Russia and the United States to continue to fully implement New START.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said on February 22 that the country will continue to comply with the restrictions on the number of nuclear warheads outlined in New START even after the suspension of the treaty. The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier also stated that it would continue to comply with the restrictions under New START. The agency added that Russia can reverse the decision to suspend the treaty, but the US must show goodwill.
The Strategic Offensive Arms Limitation Treaty, known in the US as the ‘New START’ and in Russia as the ‘SNV-III’, was signed in 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic in 2010 under Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama.
The treaty limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads Washington and Moscow can deploy. Russia and the US still possess about 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads.
Under the agreement, Moscow and Washington committed to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and up to 700 long-range missiles and bombers.
The treaty also provides for joint monitoring of each party’s deployed nuclear arsenals, as well as coordination through a bilateral advisory committee. Under the agreement, each side can conduct up to 18 inspections of strategic nuclear weapons sites each year to ensure the other is not violating the limits of the treaty.
The treaty entered into force in 2011. In early 2021, shortly after US President Joe Biden took office, the US and Russia agreed to extend the treaty for another five years, until 2026.
However, in March 2020, the inspections under the New START agreement were halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Negotiations between Moscow and Washington on the resumption of inspections were scheduled to take place in November 2022 in Egypt, but have been postponed by Russia. The Kremlin said it could not negotiate in the event that the US still provided weapons to Ukraine to fight Russia. Since then, no party has set a new negotiating date.