Putin: Russia suspends participation in last remaining nuclear treaty with U.S.
President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday Moscow's suspension of its participation in the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two main nuclear powers, Russia and the United States. "I have to announce that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START treaty," Putin said in his state of the nation address. "No one should be under the illusion that global strategic parity can be violated."
- Diplomacy
- Reuters
- Published Date: 02:13 | 21 February 2023
- Modified Date: 02:13 | 21 February 2023
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States that limits the two sides' strategic nuclear arsenals.
"In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty," Putin told lawmakers towards the end of a major speech to parliament, nearly one year into the war in Ukraine.
The New START treaty was signed in Prague in 2010, came into force the following year and was extended in 2021 for five more years just after U.S. President Joe Biden took office.
It caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them.
Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, with close to 6,000 warheads, according to experts. Together, Russia and the United States hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads - enough to destroy the planet many times over.