Once again, Vladimir Putin brandishes the nuclear threat. In his solemn address on the state of the Russian nation, three days before the anniversary of his offensive in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin issued a new nuclear warning to the West, which he accused of wanting the destruction of the Russia. This time it is by suspending the application of New Start, a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty.
Signed on April 8, 2010, when relations between their two countries were much warmer, New Start (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, in Russian: СНВ-III) is the last major international agreement allowing reciprocal control between Moscow and Washington of their nuclear weapons. It limits the number of nuclear warheads the world’s two largest nuclear powers – 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads – can deploy and is due to expire in 2026, after a five-year extension in 2021.
“I am compelled to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty,” Putin said, justifying his decision on the grounds that some people in Washington would consider resuming nuclear testing. The Ministry of Defense and Rosatom, the Russian nuclear agency, must therefore, he continued, be ready to test Russian nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union conducted its last test in 1990, according to the Arms Control Association.
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“Of course, we won’t do it first. But if the United States tests, then we will. No one should have dangerous illusions about the possibility of destroying global strategic parity,” warned the head of the Kremlin.
He also announced that new strategic land systems had been brought into combat readiness. Putin did not say which systems it was but he accused Ukraine of wanting to strike a facility in the heart of Russia, where some of its nuclear bombers, the supersonic Tupolev Tu-160s, are based. a reference to Engels Air Base. In December, the air base had been attacked by Ukrainian drones twice. Three Russian soldiers were killed in the second attack.
At the beginning of August, Russia had already announced that it was suspending planned inspections of its military sites. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia was not going to discuss the Start treaty with the United States as long as the latter supplied arms and military equipment to Ukraine.
From Athens (Greece), where he is continuing a European tour, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken deemed the Russian decision “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible”. The Biden administration remains ready to talk about the nuclear weapons treaty “at any time with Russia, regardless of anything happening in the world,” he added.