Russia is Violation of a major nuclear arms control agreement A State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that the United States continued to deny access to and inspections of its nuclear facilities.
“Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory. Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of US-Russian nuclear arms control,” the spokesman said in the statement.
“Russia has also failed to comply with its New START treaty obligation to convene the session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission according to the treaty-mandated timeline,” the spokesman said.
Under the New START treaty – the only agreement to regulate the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals – Washington and Moscow are allowed to inspect each other’s weapons sites, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, inspections have been halted since 2020 Has gone.
A session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission on the treaty was due to meet in Egypt in late November, but was abruptly called off. The US has blamed Russia for the postponement, with a State Department spokesman saying the decision was made “unilaterally” by Russia.
The treaty limits the number of intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can possess. It was last extended for five years through early 2021, which means the two sides will have to start negotiating another arms control deal soon.
The State Department says Russia can return to full compliance if they “allow inspection activities in their territory, as they have done for years under the New START treaty” and schedule a session of the commission.
On Monday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the last remaining element of a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty with the United States could expire in three years without a replacement.
Asked whether Moscow could envisage no nuclear arms control agreement between the two countries if the 2011 New START treaty expires after 2026, Ryabkov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday: “It’s a very possible scenario.”
The statement comes at a time when Russia continues its war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted in december that the conflict is “going to take a while”, as he also warned of the “growing” danger of nuclear war. And without explicitly ruling out the first use of nuclear weapons, Putin said he viewed Russia’s nuclear arsenal as a deterrent rather than a provocation.