- The State Department chastised Russia for suspending inspections and canceling discussions.
- Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START.
- Diplomacy between the two nations has dwindled in the last year.
WASHINGTON – As tensions rise over the Ukraine conflict, the US stated on Tuesday that Russia was not complying with the New Strategic Weapons Reduction Deal (START), the world’s only remaining arms control treaty between the world’s two major nuclear powers.
In response to a congressional request, the State Department chastised Russia for suspending inspections and canceling discussions. However, it did not accuse its Cold War opponent of exceeding agreed-upon limitations on nuclear warheads.
“Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START to facilitate inspection activities on its territory,” a State Department spokesperson said, charging that Moscow’s refusal “threatens the viability of US-Russian nuclear arms control.”
“Russia has a clear path for returning to full compliance. All Russia needs to do is allow inspection activities on its territory, just as it did for years under the New START Treaty, and meet in a session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission,” he said, referring to the formal talks set up under the treaty.
“There is nothing preventing Russian inspectors from traveling to the United States and conducting inspections.”
In early August, Moscow stated that it would suspend US inspections of its military sites under New START. It claimed to be in response to American obstruction of reviews by Russia, which Washington denies.
Diplomacy between the two nations has dwindled in the last year as the US has led an effort to punish Russia economically and supply Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons as it fights back against a Moscow invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed thinly disguised threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, reigniting Cold War-era concerns of a nuclear war.
Russia indefinitely postponed talks under New START that had been due to start on November 29 in Cairo, accusing the United States of “toxicity and animosity.”
Make the world safer
President Joe Biden extended New START by five years, until 2026, to allow time for negotiations while protecting what the Democratic government sees as a crucial current deal.
The previous Trump administration blew up past arms control treaties and was unwilling to keep New START in its current form, claiming that any nuclear pact must include China, whose arsenal is quickly rising but still much less than that of Russia and the United States.
The Biden administration showed a desire to preserve New START, stating that the pact was intended to “make the world safer.”
“To fully deliver on the promise of the treaty by ensuring it remains an instrument of stability and predictability, Russia must fully implement and comply with its obligations,” the State Department spokesperson said.
Republican members, who won control of the House in January, had urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to report on whether Russia was in violation of New START by Tuesday.
The Republican chairs of the foreign affairs, armed services, and intelligence committees wrote last week that Russia’s actions and words “at a minimum create substantial compliance issues.”
The new START treaty, signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010 during a period of improved ties, limited Russia and the United States to a total of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads apiece, a reduction of over 30% from the previous limit set in 2002.
It also restricts the number of launchers and heavy bombers to 800, which is still sufficient to destroy Earth.
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