Putin signs law suspending nuclear deal with US

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed into law a law formally suspending the latest nuclear arms control treaty with the United States amid heightened tensions with Washington over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Putin had said a week ago in his State of the Nation address that Moscow would suspend its participation in the 2010 New START treaty. He had warned that Russia could not agree to US inspections of its nuclear facilities under of the pact at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared that they seek Russia’s defeat in Ukraine.

Both houses of parliament swiftly ratified Putin’s bill on suspending the pact last week. On Tuesday, Putin signed it, with immediate effect. The document says it is up to the president to decide whether Moscow can return to the pact.

Putin has insisted that Moscow not pull out of the pact altogether, and the Russian Foreign Ministry has said the country will abide by the nuclear weapons limits set out in the treaty and continue to notify the United States of nuclear test launches. ballistic missiles.

On Monday, a senior US arms control official harshly criticized Russia for suspending its participation in the treaty, but said Washington would try to work with Moscow to continue implementing it.

“Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power,” Bonnie Jenkins, under secretary of state for arms control, told a session of the Conference on Disarmament. , an international forum affiliated with the United Nations.

Jenkins told reporters that the United States had not fully assessed the consequences of Russia’s suspension measure, but added, “We see no evidence that Russia is in violation.”

New START, signed in 2010 by then-presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits the deployment of nuclear warheads to a maximum of 1,550, and missiles and bombers to 700 for each country. The agreement includes inspections to verify compliance.