Call Russia Violating Nuclear Arms Control Treaty, United States: Do Not Allow Inspections

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New START Treaty in Prague, Czech Republic. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - The United States on Tuesday accused Russia of violating the New START Treaty, the last major pillar of post-Cold War nuclear weapons control between the two countries, saying Moscow refuses to allow inspection activities on its territory.

The agreement went into effect in 2011 and was extended in 2021 for another five years. This limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, as well as the deployment of land-based missiles, submarines and bombers that can launch them.

The two countries, which during the Cold War were bound by tangled arms control agreements, still account for about 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.

Washington is keen to maintain the agreement, but relations with Moscow are at their worst in decades following a Russian invasion of Ukraine, which could complicate President Joe Biden's Administration's efforts to maintain and reach a follow-up agreement.

"Russia's refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the continuity of US-Russia nuclear weapons control," a State Department spokesperson wrote in emailed comments.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying, "arms control is inseparable from geopolitical realities" and that Russia deems it inappropriate to invite the US military to its strategic facilities at this time.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the signing of the New START Treaty in Prague, Czech Republic. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

Nevertheless, Antonov said Russia would stick to the other New START terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, the head of the national security committee in the US Senate said Moscow's failure to comply would affect future arms pacts.

"But to be very clear, compliance with the obligations of the New START Treaty will be critical to the Senate's consideration of a future strategic arms control agreement with Moscow," Democratic Senators Bob Menendez, Jack Reed and Mark Warner said in a statement.

Menendez chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Reed panel of the Senate Armed Services and the Senate Intelligence Committee Warner.

Moscow in August suspended cooperation with inspections under the agreement, blaming travel restrictions imposed by Washington and its allies after Russian troops invaded neighboring Ukraine in February last year, but said it was still committed to complying with the terms of the agreement.

A State Department spokeswoman said Russia had a "clear path" to return to compliance by allowing inspection activities, while Washington remained prepared to work with Russia to fully implement the agreement.

"The New START Treaty remains in the national security interest of the United States," the spokesperson said.

Originally, talks between Moscow and Washington about resuming inspections under New START were scheduled to take place in November in Egypt, but Russia postponed them and neither side has set a new date.

On Monday, Russia told the United States the agreement could expire in 2026 without replacement, as Washington seeks to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Moscow in Ukraine.

Asked whether Moscow could envision no nuclear arms control treaty after 2026, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA: "This is a very likely scenario."