Russia rescinds key nuclear treaty with US

Moscow has said it had to terminate the accord on military-grade plutonium disposal in view of Washington’s continued hostile policies

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a law that officially terminates a treaty with the US on the disposal of excess military-grade plutonium. Moscow suspended the accord in 2016, citing Washington’s hostile policies toward Russia.

The lower house of the Russian Parliament passed the bill ending the treaty earlier this month, while the upper chamber gave it the green light last Wednesday. The legislation took effect on Monday after Putin approved it.

The agreement, which was originally signed in September 2000, stipulated that each signatory dispose of 34 tons of military-grade plutonium that had been declared redundant for the purposes of military programs.

In October 2016, Russia suspended the accord, citing hostile actions by the US – sanctions and NATO’s eastward expansion in Europe, among other reasons. Moscow had, however, expressed a willingness to revive it if Washington addressed its grievances.

A note accompanying the law cited a “fundamental change in circumstances,” adding that the extent of Washington’s “anti-Russian” policies has only increased in recent years.

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Addressing Russian lawmakers earlier this month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov also noted that the US had sought to change the plutonium disposal protocols. Moscow objected, expressing concerns that the radioactive materials could potentially be disinterred and reused, the diplomat said.

During US President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as well as the 1992 Open Skies Treaty.

Last month, Putin lamented that “step by step, the system of Soviet-American and Russian-American agreements on nuclear missile and strategic defensive arms control was almost completely dismantled.”

He stated that Russia was prepared to continue abiding by the central limitations of the New START Treaty – the only remaining arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington – for one year after it expires on February 5, 2026.

In force since 2011, the treaty limits the US and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads.

Responding to Putin’s proposal in early October, Trump hailed it as a “good idea.”