The US urges Russia to stay in the New START nuclear deal

US Undersecretary for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins sharply criticized Russia today for suspending participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty, but said Washington would still work with Moscow to continue implementing the treaty.

"Russia has shown the world once again that it is not a responsible nuclear power," said Jenkins, one of the top US arms control officials at the Conference on Disarmament, an international forum at the United Nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week that his country would suspend its participation in the New START treaty, which commits Russia and the United States to regular communication about the status of their nuclear arsenals, to allow regular inspections of those arsenals and to have no more than the agreed-upon maximum number of operational and non-operational warheads.

Russia is not withdrawing from the accord, which runs until 2026, but Putin has said Russia cannot accept US inspections of its nuclear weapons sites while Washington and its NATO allies are pushing for the country's defeat in Ukraine.

Inspections have not been carried out since 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. Talks on their renewal were supposed to begin last November, but Russia abruptly canceled its participation in them.

Jenkins later told reporters that the US had not yet fully grasped the ramifications of Russia's suspension announcement, but added that her country "has yet to see evidence that Russia is not complying with the treaty."

"We remain ready to work assertively with Russia on the full implementation of the New START Agreement, and continued implementation is based on the best interests of both parties," she said.

Putin announced the suspension on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He repeatedly claimed that the conflict was necessary in order to prevent the West from allegedly weakening Russia and warned of the ever-increasing threat of nuclear war.

The former president of Russia and now the deputy head of the national security council, Dmitry Medvedev, said last week that if the US wants to defeat Russia, then Russia has the right to defend itself with "any weapon, including nuclear weapons."

Bonnie Jenkins said that "Russia must end this war and end its irresponsible nuclear rhetoric."