Russia

Putin Signs Law Suspending Russia's Participation in New START

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Tuesday that suspends Russia's participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
Sputnik
The law may come into force after its official publication, according to the document. The decision on the resumption of Russia's participation in the treaty will be made by the president.
On February 21, Putin said in a message to the Federal Assembly that Russia was suspending participation in the New START, stressing that the country was not withdrawing from the treaty.
The president underscored that "we need to understand what countries such as France and the United Kingdom consider to be as their strategic arsenals, and how we will take them into account, that is, the combined strike potential of the [North Atlantic] Alliance."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has stressed that the future of the treaty entirely depends on the US and its decisions. At the same time, Moscow will continue to comply with quantitative restrictions on strategic offensive arms even despite the suspension of the New START treaty, as well as exchange notifications with Washington about ballistic missiles launches, Moscow emphasized.
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The agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States on measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms was signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague. It replaced the 1991 START treaty and, upon entry into force, replaced the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT). On February 3, 2021, Moscow and Washington exchanged notes on the completion of the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the agreement on the five-year extension of the New START.
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