MOSCOW: Russia has suspended its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US. President Vladimir Putin announced the move on Tuesday in his State of the Union address at Duma where he made it clear that he would not change his war strategy in Ukraine.
Putin sharply upped the ante by declaring that Moscow would suspend its participation in the so-called New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). The pact, signed in 2010 by the US and Russia, caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads the two sides can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.
Putin also said that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does so, a move that would end a global ban on such tests in place since the Cold War era. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Moscow’s decision as “really unfortunate and very irresponsible”. “We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does,” he said during a visit to Greece.
“It’s they who have started the war. And we are using force to end it,” Putin said before an audience of lawmakers, state officials and soldiers who have fought in Ukraine. Putin asked his Defence Ministry and Rosatom (Russian state corporation that specialises in nuclear energy) to prepare for nuclear tests, if necessary, against the backdrop of the West preparing to supply long-range missiles and fighter aircraft that could hit Russia. In this respect, Putin had warned earlier that, “a direct attack on the country will lead to the destruction of and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor”. US President Joe Biden had also sounded out Moscow about his “surprise” visit to Kyiv on Monday, according to his NSA Jake Sullivan, which was an indication of Russia’s reach.
Putin also warned that the deliveries of weapons to Kyiv would lead to the corresponding consequences. “The more the long-range western systems come to Ukraine, the further we will be forced to move the threat away from our borders,” he observed while pointing out that the West has already spent over $150 billion on aid and weapon supply to Ukraine. In his 100-minute speech days before the first anniversary of the invasion, Putin touched upon the “special military operation”, and said “Russia did everything possible for a peaceful settlement”.
Accusing the US of trying to destroy the post-World War II world order to build a world where “there is only one master”, he said the West was trying “to transform a local conflict into a phase of global confrontation”, but the West should be aware that it is “impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield.’’
With provincial and federal elections looming this and next year, Putin also announced several new social and economic measures, including the creation of a special fund to support war veterans and educational reform.