US officials say the United States will no longer share nuclear information with Russia over Moscow’s non-compliance with the New START treaty, from which Russian President Vladimir Putin resigned last month.
The US-Russia arms control pact, signed in 2010 by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement provides for on-site inspections to verify compliance.
FILE: National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
White House, Pentagon and State Department officials said the US had offered to continue providing Russia with that information — even after Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty last month. Nevertheless, Moscow informed Washington that it would not pass on its data. Now both the US and Russia have stopped sharing semi-annual nuclear weapons data altogether.
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“We would of course like to see Russia back in New START in full agreement. We believe that the New START treaty is good for both of our countries. It’s good for the world when our two countries comply fully,” National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.
“Since they have refused to comply with this particular modality of New START, we have decided not to share this data either.”
FILE: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Magadan Region Governor Sergey Nosov via video conference on October 21, 2022 at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The White House, which has previously accused Russia of multiple treaty violations, said Russia’s refusal to comply was “unlawful” and the decision to withhold the nuclear data was another violation.
Although New START was extended shortly after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, it has been tested by Russia’s war in Ukraine. It has been on life support for more than a month since Putin announced Russia would no longer meet its requirements.
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The on-site inspections have been on hold since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Talks about resuming them should have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, citing US support for Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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