BRUSSELS, February 3. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) believes that Russia has not fulfilled the terms of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (new START) and urges Moscow to resume inspections of its nuclear arsenals, NATO’s press office said in a statement on Friday.
"…We note with concern that Russia has failed to comply with legally-binding obligations under the New START Treaty," the statement reads.
"Russia’s refusal to convene a session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) within the treaty-established timeframe, and to facilitate US inspection activities on its territory since August 2022 prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the Treaty, and undermines the United States’ ability to adequately verify Russian compliance with the Treaty’s central limits," according to the statement.
"Russia’s refusal to convene a session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) within the treaty-established timeframe, and to facilitate U.S. inspection activities on its territory since August 2022 prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the Treaty… We call on Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Treaty by facilitating New START inspections on Russian territory, and by returning to participation in the Treaty’s implementation body, the BCC," NATO’s statement added.
About New START
On Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov stressed that Moscow had been impeccably observing the New START over the years - in contrast to Washington. The diplomat drew attention to the fact that the responsibility for the escalation of tensions over the treaty should be placed squarely on the United States. In particular, he commented on a report prepared earlier by the US Department of State saying that Russia was allegedly in breach of New START. It argued that full compliance required inspections on its territory, and also consent to a meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC).
The treaty between the United States and Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) was signed in 2010 and entered into force on February 5, 2011.
The document stipulated that seven years after its entry into effect, each party should have no more than a total of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers, as well as no more than 1,550 warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs and strategic bombers, and a total of 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and strategic bombers.
The New START Treaty was to remain in force for 10 years, until 2021, with the possibility of prolongation by mutual consent.
In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty, described by the Russian authorities as the gold standard in the sphere of disarmament, for the maximum term of five years.