The Russian Federation Leaves the New START Nuclear Arms Control Treaty

New START was a treaty signed by Russia and the United States in 2010 in Prague by Presidents Obama and Medvedev, which called for the disarmament of half of the number of strategic nuclear missile launching facilities, reducing the overall total of nuclear arms on earth. However, it does not limit the number of nuclear warheads that could be stockpiled.

By Adam Butler, SJ Correspondent
August 09, 2022 03:15 am UTC
Modified: August 09, 2022 03:15 am

THE KREMLIN - Russia stated on Monday, August 8th that they would no longer allow inspection of weapons under the New START Nuclear Arms Control Treaty for an unspecified time due to restrictions on travel implemented by the United States and the west.

New START was a treaty signed by Russia and the United States in 2010 in Prague, which called for the disarmament of half of the number of strategic nuclear missile launching facilities, reducing the overall total of nuclear arms on earth. However, it does not limit the number of nuclear warheads that could be stockpiled.

In response to the closure of airspace to Russian planes within the United States, the European Union, and Great Britain as part of a total sanctions package against Russia for its special military operation in Ukraine, Russia has chosen to temporarily leave the New START Treaty.

Though President Biden is ready for his administration to get to work on a new framework to replace the New START, which expires in 2026, pending the Kremlin's willingness to resume, Russia has stated that being as the US has withdrawn from other talks over strategic stability in regards to Ukraine, it needed to decide what it wanted to do.

A week ago on August 2nd, the Kremlin had communicated to the United States that time was running out to negotiate a replacement for the New START nuclear arms treaty, and without a replacement, global security would be at risk.

The Kremlin had this to say on August 2nd:

"Moscow has repeatedly talked about the need to start such negotiations as soon as possible because there is little time left... If the treaty ceases to exist without being replaced with something sound, then it will have the most negative impact on world security and stability," - Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov

On August 8th, The Russian Foreign Ministry said this in a statement:

"Inspection Conditions proposed by Washington created unilateral advantages for the United States and effectively deprive the Russian Federation of the right to conduct inspections on American Territory..."

Later on in the day, Kommersant posted on their Telegram channel that Russia is forced to withdraw from the New START Treaty. The withdrawal is due to the United States wanting to restart the inspections "on conditions that do not take into account existing realities." Kommersant also specified that the Russian Federation was denied their right to inspect American nuclear arms, but also stressed that this was only a temporary measure.