Vladimir Putin unveiled the move in his State of the Union address as US President Joe Biden was visiting Poland, news outlets reported.
In a lengthy televised speech to joint houses of parliament, the Kremlin leader said, as quoted by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper: “They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and claim our nuclear facilities. In this regard, I am forced to state that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty.”
Putin also announced that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, and threatened to resume nuclear tests, the Reuters news agency reported.
Putin’s address focused on the one-year anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine and featured a list of grievances against the West, according to news reports.
The Kremlin leader vowed that Russia would achieve its objectives and accused the West of trying to destroy it, Reuters reported.
Putin stated: "The elites of the West do not hide their purpose. But they also cannot fail to realise that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield."
He claimed the United States was turning the war in Ukraine into “a global conflict.”
Putin said the war had been started by NATO countries, while Russia “is seeking to put an end to this conflict,” the PAP news agency reported.
New Start treaty
The New Start nuclear arms control treaty was signed in 2010 by then-US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
The document caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the countries can deploy, according to Reuters.
Under New Start, the strategic nuclear assets of the United States and Russia are capped at 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed missiles and heavy bombers, The Guardian reported.
The treaty also provides for joint monitoring of each side’s deployed nuclear arsenals, as well as “coordination through the bilateral consultative commission,” according to the UK newspaper.
Putin’s move 'deeply unfortunate and irresponsible': Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Putin’s decision to halt Russia’s involvement in New Start as “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” PAP reported.
He told reporters on a visit to Athens, as quoted by The Guardian: “The announcement by Russia that it’s suspending participation in New Start is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”
Blinken added: “We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does. We’ll of course make sure that in any event we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN: “We haven't seen any reason to change our nuclear posture, our strategic posture just yet, but this is something we monitor every day."
In a major speech in Warsaw on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden vowed that America and its allies "will not tire" of supporting Ukraine and that "Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia."
Biden was visiting Poland for talks on Russia's war in Ukraine and to meet with NATO’s eastern-flank allies nearly a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Tuesday was day 363 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, CNN