The State Duma unanimously adopted a law on the suspension of the Treaty on the Reduction of Offensive Arms (START), introduced by Vladimir Putin. On this subject reported website of the lower house of parliament.
How Remarks RBC, all deputies present voted for adoption – 401 people. According to the document, the decision to renew the treaty will be taken by the Russian president.
The day before, on February 21, Putin, addressing a message to the Federal Assembly, had announced that Moscow was suspending its participation in the new START treaty. He said the West is “directly involved in the Kiev regime’s attempts to strike” at strategic Russian airbases. Thus, according to Putin, NATO’s request to return to the implementation of START, which implies the admission of Western inspections of Russian nuclear and defense installations, is “the theater of the absurd”.
The Russian president noted that before returning to the discussion on START, Russia should understand “what France and Britain are claiming” in the field of nuclear weapons, “and how we will take into account their strategic arsenals, that is, NATO’s combined strike potential.
START was signed by Russian and US Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama on April 8, 2010 in Prague. The agreement entered into force in February 2011 for a period of 10 years. In 2021, Putin signed a law extending the agreement for five years.
