America accuses Russia of violating a major nuclear arms control treaty | Russia

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The United States has accused Russia of violating the New START treaty, the last major pillar of nuclear arms control after the Cold War between the two countries, saying Moscow refuses to allow inspection activities on its soil.

The treaty entered into force in 2011 and was extended in 2021 for another five years. It limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads the United States and Russia can deploy, and deploys missiles, land-based bombers, and submarines to deliver them.

The two countries, which were tied down during the Cold War by a tangle of arms control agreements, together still account for about 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads.

Washington has been eager to preserve the treaty, but relations with Moscow are the worst in decades due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an element that may complicate the Joe Biden administration’s attempts to maintain and reach a follow-up agreement.

“Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the Treaty and threatens the ability to control nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said in emailed comments.

Moscow in August suspended cooperation with inspections under the treaty, blaming travel restrictions imposed by Washington and its allies after Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine in February last year, but said it remained committed to complying with the terms of the treaty.

The State Department spokesperson added that Russia has a “clear path” to return to compliance by allowing inspections activities, and that Washington remains ready to work with Russia towards full implementation of the treaty.

“The New Beginning Treaty remains in the national security interest of the United States,” the spokesperson said.

Talks between Moscow and Washington on resuming inspections under the “New Start” program were scheduled for November in Egypt, but Russia postponed them, accusing the United States of “toxicity and hostility,” and neither side set a new date.

On Monday, Russia told the United States that the treaty could expire in 2026 without an alternative because it said Washington was trying to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Moscow in Ukraine.

Asked if Moscow could envisage the absence of a nuclear arms control treaty after 2026, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the New Russian Information Agency: “This is a completely possible scenario.”

The United States has provided more than $27 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the invasion, including more than 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 8,500 Javelin anti-tank missile systems and one million rounds of 155mm artillery.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, reviving Cold War-era fears of an apocalyptic war.

Soon after taking office, Biden extended The New Start by five years to 2026, allowing time to negotiate while preserving what the Democratic administration views as an important existing treaty.

Donald Trump’s previous administration had torn up previous arms control agreements and was reluctant to preserve A New Beginning in its current form, saying any nuclear treaty must also include China, whose arsenals are growing rapidly but are still far below those of Russia and the Gulf states. . United State.

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