Russia suspends participation in nuclear pact with United States

File photo/AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said that Russia is suspending its participation in a treaty aimed at keeping a lid on nuclear weapons expansion.

The so-called New START Treaty was signed by Russia and the U.S. in 2010. It caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads they can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

Putin said Tuesday in a major address that Russia was not fully withdrawing from the treaty yet. He said Russia must stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does so.

"In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty," Putin told lawmakers towards the end of a major speech to parliament, nearly one year into the war in Ukraine.

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The New START treaty was signed in Prague in 2010, came into force the following year and was extended in 2021 for five more years just after U.S. President Joe Biden took office.

It caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them.

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, with close to 6,000 warheads, according to experts.

Together, Russia and the United States hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads - enough to destroy the planet many times over.

The President said that truth was on Russia's side, that his country was confident in its strength and would respond to any challenge placed before it, in a defiant speech before Russia's political elite. (Agencies)