Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty.
He stressed that Russia is not withdrawing from the treaty, but "suspends participation."
According to Putin, the United States is developing new types of nuclear weapons. He stressed that if the United States tests new types of nuclear weapons, the Russian Federation will do the same:
“The Russian Ministry of Defense and Rosatom must ensure readiness for testing Russian nuclear weapons. Of course, we will not be the first to do this. But if the US tests, then we will too.”
The START Treaty is a bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States on further mutual reductions in the arsenals of deployed strategic nuclear weapons. The treaty provided for the reduction for each of the parties of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 units, intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles of submarines and heavy bombers – to 700 units.