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Washington believes Russia violated New START Treaty by denying US inspections — report

According to the Department of State, the absence of inspections made it more difficult to verify the number of warheads, deployed by Russia under the agreement

US Department of State AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

US Department of State

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The US believes that Russia violated the New START Treaty by blocking US inspections and by denying Washington a meeting for discussion of compliance with the treaty, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing a Department of State report, sent to the US Congress Tuesday.

According to the report, the absence of inspections made it more difficult to verify the number of warheads, deployed by Russia under the agreement.

At the same time, the State Department representative noted that Russia states that it continues to endorse the treaty. In September, Russia notified the US that it has 1,549 warheads, the State Department says. Meanwhile, the State Department notes that, even if Russia abandons the Treaty, no significant change in the warhead count will occur.

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