Russia’s decision not to participate in the New START comes after Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv and announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance
The President of Russia – Vladimir Putin today, i.e., Tuesday, February 21, 2023, said he is suspending his country’s participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with the United States (U.S.).
Putin made the declaration during his annual state of the nation address to Russia’s National Assembly. Putin delivered his speech as he attended commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the battle of Stalingrad in the southern Russian city of Volgograd. The battle of Stalingrad turned the tide of World War II and is regarded as the bloodiest battle in history, with the death toll for soldiers and civilians estimated at about 2 million.
This comes a day after the President of the U.S. – Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv and assured and announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance, saying the package would include more military equipment, such as artillery ammunition, more javelins and Howitzers.
The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the U.S. and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for 5 years. Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the U.S. and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
While Russia is not withdrawing from the pact completely, it appears to be formalizing its current position. For months, the U.S. officials have been frustrated over Russia’s lack of co-operation with the agreement.
The U.S. Secretary of State – Antony Blinken called Putin’s decision “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.” He said that Biden’s Administration remains ready to talk about the nuclear arms treaty “at any time with Russia, irrespective of anything else going on in the world.”
Speaking on the occasion, Blinken said, “We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does, we’ll of course make sure that in any event that we are posturing appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies.”
He further said, “I think it matters that we continue to act responsibly in this area… it’s also something the rest of the world expect of us.”
According to the U.S., Russia had refused on numerous occasions to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. A session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission on the treaty was slated to meet in Egypt in November 2022 but was abruptly called off. The U.S. has blamed Russia for this postponement.
Meanwhile, Biden visited Poland today where he met the President of Poland – Andrzej Duda. The leaders discussed military support for Ukraine and beefing up North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO’s) presence on its Eastern flank.
