The Duma unanimously approved the suspension of the treaty with the United States on the limitation of nuclear weapons

The deputies of the State Duma voted unanimously in plenary session on Wednesday for a presidential bill suspending the treaty with the United States on the limitation of nuclear weapons. The document was submitted to the chamber the day before by President Vladimir Putin. From the statement of Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin it follows that a vote “against” was not even expected.
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, known in Russia as START-3, was signed in Prague in 2010 by Russian and US Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. Putin, as president, signed a law two years ago extending the agreement until 2026.
The document limits the maximum number of deployed nuclear warheads, the number of their carriers, prohibits countries from deploying strategic nuclear weapons outside their territory, obliges them not to hide nuclear missiles from reconnaissance equipment and allows inspectors on the other to gain access to bases containing nuclear weapons.
The document does not provide for the possibility of suspension. Putin said the day before that Russia did not plan to comply with the agreement, but would not withdraw from it.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called Putin’s decision “sad and irresponsible”. According to him, the United States will follow the real actions of Russia in this field and is always ready to resume negotiations on arms limitation.
In the coming years, Russia will not be able to exceed the limits on the number of warheads and carriers specified by the treaty. On Wednesday it became known that Moscow had not tested the Sarmat strategic ballistic missile before Putin’s speech in parliament.