Russia suspends New START, US lawmakers consider withdrawing from Treaty

On May 18, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced that a group of influential Republican senators had just submitted to Congress a bill for the country to withdraw from the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

After Russia's suspension, the New START Treaty is at risk of falling apart with a new proposal from US senators. (Source: Vajiramias)

The authors of the bill called "Say No to the New START Treaty" are Senators Jim Risch (Idaho), Tom Cotton (Arkansas), Marco Rubio (Florida), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) and several other officials representing the Republican minority in the US Senate.

“The Biden administration’s decision to extend New START with Russia has tied America’s hands and not provided our country or our allies with more security,” said Sen. Risch.

The politician also said that the decision seemed to "give China the freedom to increase its strategic nuclear weapons systems at a breathtaking pace."

He expressed confidence that the legislation he and other senators proposed would "correct those mistakes" by forcing future arms control agreements to cover all nuclear weapons, as well as extending the scope to China.

The US senator recommended: "We need to be ready for the strategic situation when the US faces two nuclear opponents, China and Russia."

Previously, on February 21, in his 2023 State of the Nation Address, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would temporarily suspend participation in New START with the US, emphasizing that Moscow was only suspending, not withdrawing from, the Treaty.

President Putin warned that although Moscow was not the first to resume nuclear testing, once the US conducted testing activities, his country was ready for the same.

Russia also blamed the US for "destroying the legal framework in the field of arms control" and Moscow will not discuss New START as long as Washington continues to arm Ukraine.

The Russian parliament later agreed with Putin's decision and on February 28, the leader signed a law suspending participation in the New START Treaty.

New START was signed by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama in 2010. The treaty entered into force a year later, initially for a period of 10 years, and was later extended until 2026.

Under the New START Treaty, the two countries committed to reducing their strategic arsenals to no more than 1,550 ready-to-use nuclear weapons; 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic missile-carrying bombers; and 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM, SLBM, and heavy bomber launchers.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nga-tam-dung-new-start-cac-nghi-si-my-tinh-bai-rut-khoi-hiep-uoc-227692.html