- Russia has suspended on-site inspections of its strategic nuclear weapons.
- The suspension was permitted under treaty rules “in exceptional circumstances”.
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the US of looking for an edge in the ongoing tensions with the West.
Under the New START arms limitation deal, Russia has informed the US that it has “temporarily” discontinued on-site inspections of its strategic nuclear weapons.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the US was looking for an edge and had denied Russia the ability to conduct inspections on US soil.
It said that US sanctions placed on Russia over Ukraine had altered bilateral relations.
The pact went into effect in 2011.
It is the former Cold War adversaries’ final surviving armaments reduction accord. It limits each country’s ability to deploy long-range nuclear weapons to 1,550.
The suspension was permitted under treaty rules “in exceptional circumstances,” according to the government.
The suspension comes only a week after US Vice President Joe Biden stated his willingness to engage on a new nuclear armaments pact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The present one is set to expire in 2026.
The ministry accused the US of neglecting “existing realities” such as “the suspension of normal” aviation connectivity.
New START came after years of armaments reduction discussions between the United States and the former Soviet Union aimed at averting nuclear war.
Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine elicited harsh rhetoric on both sides, including threats that the conflict may grow into a third global war.
In the light of current Nato tensions, several Russian official media pundits have bragged about Moscow’s nuclear weapons.
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