HIROSHIMA /Japan/, May 19. /TASS/. The Group of Seven leaders have expressed regret over Russia’s decision to suspend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and called on it to return to its implementation, according to the joint stamen on nuclear disarmament adopted by the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Friday.
"We deeply regret Russia’s decision to undermine the New START Treaty, and call on Russia to enable a return to full implementation of the Treaty," reads the document entitled G7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament.
Along with that, the G7 leaders expressed concern over "China’s accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency nor meaningful dialogue."
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was suspending its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) but is not withdrawing from it. The president stressed that before returning to the discussion of the extension of the New START treaty, the Russian side wants to understand how the treaty will take into account not only the United States’ arsenals but also stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France. On March 1, the president signed a law on the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New START.
He also tasked the defense ministry and Rosatom, a state nuclear corporation, to resume nuclear tests if necessary. He stressed however that Russia would not be the first to do that.