Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that he would suspend Moscow’s participation in a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the U.S. and that Russia would resume nuclear weapons testing if the U.S. moved to initiate tests, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Apart from his decision on the New START treaty, Putin said in his address Tuesday that Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine would continue.
U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said Russia’s decision on New START is “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”
“But of course, we remain ready to talk about strategic arms limitations at any time with Russia irrespective of anything else going on in the world or in our relationship,” Blinken, a previous Wash100 awardee, told reporters Tuesday during a visit to the U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece.
Putin’s decision came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Kyiv to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the first-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European country.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the country would continue to abide by the restrictions under the treaty on the number of nuclear warheads it can field and inform the U.S. of any planned testing of submarine-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The New START pact, which was extended in 2021, is set to expire in February 2026.