This is “another blow to gun control” nuclear, notes the Guardian. Moscow “officially informed” Monday Washington that all of its sites subject to inspections under the New Start treaty would be “temporarily exempt”. These include missile launch bases, as well as air and naval bases where nuclear missiles are deployed.
Signed in 2010, the New Start Treaty is “the latest arms reduction agreement between former Cold War rivals”remind the BBC. It limits the arsenals of the two countries to a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads each, a reduction of almost 30% compared to the previous limit set in 2002. It also limits the number of launchers and heavy bombers to 800, which remains enough to destroy the Earth many times over.
Russia justified this decision because of American obstacles to Russian inspections in the United States. “The Russian Federation is obliged to resort to this measure […] due to existing realities that create unilateral advantages for the United States and deprive Russia of its right to carry out inspections on American territory”, the statement said. Russian diplomacy cites in particular the obstacles to the travel of Russian inspectors and the difficulties linked to the issuance of visas, caused by the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow because of the Ukrainian conflict. Russia, however, said Monday that once these problems are resolved, it would be ready to reconsider its decision.
Ce “treaty is to expire at the beginning of 2026”, recalls for its part the Wall Street Journal. “However, since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and US arms control officials have not met to discuss future arms control agreements,” remarks the American financial daily.
“Impossible to detect a possible increase in radioactivity” in Zaporijjia
This new blow to nuclear disarmament comes at a time when fears related to the nuclear threat continue to grow in Ukraine. The international community fears an accident at the Zaporijjia power plant, located in the south of the country, while kyiv and Moscow have accused each other since Friday of bombing the site.
According to the Ukrainian state company Energoatom, “three radiation monitoring detectors around the plant site were damaged […]. Therefore, it is currently impossible to detect” a possible increase in radioactivity and therefore“intervene in good time”. Asked by Timecivil and military nuclear expert at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, Marc Finaud remarks that “the same scenario had occurred at Chernobyl in 1986: due to malfunctions, it had not been noticed that one of the reactors had exceeded its usual power”.
Amid growing concerns, Washington on Monday called on Moscow to cease all military activity in and around nuclear power plants in Ukraine. “We continue to call on Russia to […] give back control [des centrales] to Ukraine”White House spokeswoman Karine Jean Pierre said during a press briefing aboard Air Force One.