Urges Russia To Reconsider Suspension Of Nuclear Weapons Treaty, NATO Secretary General: The World Is More Dangerous

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (left) and European Union Head of Foreign Policy Josep Borrell. (Source: Twitter/@jensstoltenberg)

JAKARTA - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday Russia's decision to suspend its participation in the New START bilateral nuclear arms control treaty was making the world a more dangerous place, urging Moscow to reconsider.

Stoltenberg was speaking at a press conference held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West about the war in Ukraine and announced his decision on the New START treaty.

"More nuclear weapons and less arms control makes the world more dangerous," Stoltenberg, who was standing alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, told reporters.

Responding to President Putin's accusations that the West was trying to destroy Russia, Stoltenberg said Moscow was the aggressor in Ukraine that launched its invasion nearly a year ago.

"It was President Putin who started this war of conquest of the empire... As Putin explained today, he is preparing for more wars... Putin must not win... This will be dangerous for our own security and that of the whole world," Stoltenberg said.

"I regret Russia's decision to suspend its participation in the New START program," he continued.

Reportedly earlier, accusing the United States of having turned the Ukrainian war into a global conflict in his address to Parliament as well as Russia's political and military elite on Tuesday, President Putin said Russia was suspending its participation in the New START agreement.

It is known that the New START treaty is the last valid nuclear agreement between Russia and the United States, the two countries with the largest nuclear powers in the world, with the strength of both reaching 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.

In addition, the New START treaty limits both sides to possessing 1,550 warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers. Both sides have met the mid-range in 2018.

Under the agreement, which expires in 2026, the United States and Russia can physically inspect each other's nuclear arsenals, although tensions in Ukraine have brought inspections to a halt.