President Putin Suspends Russia's Participation in Nuclear Limitation Treaty: Ready to Conduct Tests If...

President Putin during a speech to the Russian Parliament (Source: Ramil Sitdikov/RIA Novosti via Kremlin)

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered a stark warning to the West regarding Ukraine, suspended a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty, announced a new strategic system had been placed on combat duty, and warned that Moscow could resume nuclear tests.

Speaking almost a year after ordering the invasion that has sparked the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War, President Putin said Russia would achieve its war goals, accusing the West of seeking to destroy Russia.

While warning the United States that they had turned the war into a global conflict, President Putin announced Russia was suspending participation in the New START Treaty, the last major arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington.

The agreement limits the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed by the world's two largest nuclear powers and is set to expire in 2026.

"I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty," Putin told his country's political and military elites, citing Reuters, February 21.

The Russian leader said, without citing evidence, that some in Washington were thinking about continuing nuclear tests. Therefore, the defense ministry and Russia's nuclear company should be prepared to test Russian nuclear weapons if necessary, he said.

"Of course, we will not do this first. But if the United States conducts a test, then we will do it. No one should have dangerous illusions that the global strategic balance can be destroyed," said President Putin.

"A week ago, I signed a decree putting a new ground-based strategic system into combat duty. Are they going to stick their nose in there too, or what?" he continued.

It was not immediately clear which ground-based systems had been put into combat duty.

It is known, Russia and the United States still have a very large arsenal of nuclear weapons, relics of the Cold War era. They are by far the largest nuclear powers, with their strengths accounting for 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.

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.