Russia Suspends Last Remaining Nuclear Weapons Treaty With the U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the country is “suspending” the last existing U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty.

The move to suspend the New START treaty effectively ends any semblance of nuclear arms control between the two countries, which maintain 90 percent of the nuclear weapons in the world. The announcement came in a fiery speech in which Putin falsely claimed that the West had “started the war in Ukraine.”

"I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty," Putin said.

New START was an Obama-era treaty that limited both the United States and Russia to holding 1,550 nuclear warheads each and ensured mutual surveillance of the weapons via official inspections. Nuclear experts have been warning since last month that Putin was likely to pull out of the treaty—Russia told the U.S. in January that it would let the treaty expire in 2026 if it was dealt a "strategic defeat" in Ukraine. The U.S. State Department also said that it had been prevented from doing inspections that verified Russia was abiding by the treaty. Notably, New START did not cover the shorter-range “tactical” nuclear weapons that experts have worried that Putin might use since early in the war in Ukraine. 

Putin's speech comes days after President Biden visited Kyiv in a brazen show of support and confidence that was widely seen within Russia as a sign that Putin is weak. Kremlin officials have repeatedly made vague nuclear threats to the U.S. and its Western allies amid the invasion of Ukraine, with deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warning in mid-January that "The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the beginning of a nuclear war."

Putin also said in Tuesday's speech that he was considering restarting nuclear missile tests, but only if the United States does first. Putin stated that Western involvement in Ukraine was seeking to take a "local conflict" and turn it into a "global confrontation."

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called Putin's move to suspend the treaty "deeply unfortunate and irresponsible."

President Biden is expected to speak in Warsaw, Poland, later Tuesday.

Putin alluded to one day rejoining the New START treaty, referring to "returning to the discussion of this issue," but only after "[understanding] for ourselves" what long-range strategic nuclear arsenals are maintained by NATO countries such as France and the U.K.