MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Russia will continue to adhere to quantitative restrictions under the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) after suspending its participation in the agreement, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
The diplomat stressed that, contrary to the fundamental principles and general political understandings, which were enshrined in the preamble of New START, the United States, together with other Western countries, including other nuclear states - the United Kingdom and France, "took a course to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in the unleashed total hybrid war" against Russia. "Under these circumstances, we were forced to announce the suspension of the New START Treaty. At the same time, as it has already been stated, we will continue to adhere to the quantitative restrictions enshrined in New START," the senior diplomat said.
"The situation was further escalated by US attempts to probe the security of Russian strategic facilities declared under New START by helping the Kiev regime to carry out armed attacks on them. Against this background, Washington's demands referring to provisions of the treaty to provide it with inspection access to Russia's nuclear facilities were perceived as the height of cynicism," Ryabkov pointed out.
Putin announced his decision to suspend Russia's participation in New START in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly. The president stressed that Russia was not withdrawing from the treaty, but before discussing the continuation of work under this treaty, the country must understand for itself how New START would take into account the arsenals not only of the United States, but also of other NATO nuclear powers: the UK and France.