US responds to Russia's decision to suspend the New START Treaty

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On June 1 (local time), the US State Department issued a statement affirming that from June 1, 2023, the US will stop providing notifications to Russia as required by the Treaty, including updates on the status or location of missiles and launchers on the control list, including remote information on intercontinental ballistic missile and submarine-launched ballistic missile launches.

The US government said the reason for the above decision was that Russia refused to organize 18 inspections per year; participate in meetings of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC), as well as refuse to provide the necessary notifications and data under the New START Treaty.

The US State Department 's statement assessed that although Moscow had no significant activities exceeding the Treaty's limits in 2022, Russia's failure to allow inspections and provide notification undermined the US's ability to assess Russia's nuclear deployment.

In addition to holding off on announcements, the United States has also announced that it will stop facilitating New START Treaty inspections on its territory by revoking visas issued to Russian inspectors, noting that the countermeasures are reversible and meet all legal requirements.

According to the statement, the US has notified Russia in advance of the countermeasures, and affirmed that Washington is still ready to cooperate with Russia to continue implementing the New START Treaty and is ready to work constructively with Russia to fully implement the provisions of this agreement.

The US State Department also pointed out that Russia's decision to suspend the Treaty will not prevent the US from continuing to fully support Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict.

In late February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law suspending participation in New START, the last nuclear control agreement between Moscow and Washington, because he believed that Washington was using this treaty to help Ukraine attack strategic Russian locations.

In late May, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov also accused Washington of failing to comply with the counting principles stipulated in New START. The Russian diplomat stressed: “The declared figures are often fictitious or conditional. In particular, the data related to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty recently published by the US State Department continues to be misleading due to inconsistencies in the counting principles.”

Source: Tin Tuc Newspaper (According to Sputnik)

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