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Russia’s New START suspension

Kremlin declines to comment on US statement about Russia’s suspension of New START

"We can only reiterate that Russia suspended its participation based on the president’s decision," Dmitry Peskov said

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. It is up to the Russian Foreign Ministry to comment on the US Department of State’s statement that Moscow’s suspension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is legally invalid, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"I think that our Foreign Ministry will probably explain the Department of State’s statement. It is their prerogative after all," Peskov said in response to a question.

"We can only reiterate that Russia suspended its participation based on the president’s decision," he added.

The US Department of State said earlier that Russia’s suspension of the New START treaty was legally invalid. According to Washington, "Russia remains bound by its obligations under the treaty." The Department of State once again claimed that Russia had failed to comply with New START and could return to full compliance by allowing inspections and agreeing to a meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty but was not withdrawing from it. The head of state emphasized that before resuming discussions of further activities under the treaty, Russia needed to figure out for itself how the arsenals of NATO’s other nuclear-weapons countries, the UK and France, would be taken into account along with US capacities.

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