The Russian Foreign Ministry announced a temporary withdrawal from the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, commonly known as the New START treaty, which limits nuclear arms.
Russia said it must temporarily suspend inspections due to difficulties resulting from Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine, which have made it difficult for inspection teams to acquire visas and travel by air.
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"Our goal is to eliminate such an unacceptable situation and ensure that all START mechanisms operate in strict accordance with the principles of parity and equality of the parties, as was implied when it was agreed upon and entered into force," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, per a Google translation to English.
"Now these principles are not maintained," the statement added. "Thus, as a result of anti-Russian unilateral restrictive measures taken at the suggestion of Washington, normal air traffic between Russia and the United States was interrupted, and the airspace of states that are allies and partners of the United States is closed to Russian aircraft delivering Russian inspection teams to points of entry on American territory."
Signed in 2010, the treaty was an update on START I, signed in 1991. New START stipulates that Russia and the U.S. must reduce their nuclear warhead and ballistic missile capabilities and allow inspections of each other's ballistic missile, submarine, and air bases.
Problems associated with COVID-19 were also cited as a reason for the temporary withdrawal. Inspections were halted in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and have yet to resume, according to Meduza.
However, Russia stressed that it is eager to resume inspections when the stated problems are solved and that the withdrawal is only a temporary measure.
"We would like to emphasize that the measures we have taken are temporary. Russia is fully committed to complying with all the provisions of the START Treaty, which in our eyes is the most important instrument for maintaining international security and stability. We highly appreciate his unique role in providing the necessary transparency and predictability in relations between Russia and the United States in the critically important nuclear and missile area," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The United States is committed to implementation of the New START Treaty, but we keep discussions between the parties concerning treaty implementation confidential," a U.S. State Department spokesman said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "As Secretary Blinken made clear in his recent comments, the New START Treaty makes the U.S., Russia, and the world safer by preserving verified restrictions on our strategic nuclear arsenals and avoiding an arms race. The principles of reciprocity, mutual predictability, and mutual stability will continue to guide the U.S. approach to implementation of the New START Treaty, as they have since the treaty entered into force in 2011."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that a nuclear war must never be fought, as it produces no winners, according to TASS. In the same speech, he said Russia remains committed to the reduction and control of nuclear arms.